Tiger-bashing sports: How does China's largest sports vertical community rise?

The intermediary transaction SEO diagnoses Taobao guest stationmaster buys the Cloud host technology Hall

Tiger Flutter is China's largest sports-type vertical community. It provides both basketball, football, tennis, racing and other mainstream professional sports information, but also in accordance with the type of sports and team segmentation of various forums, as well as games, sports lottery, E-commerce Shopping Guide and other sections. July 2014, Tiger Flutter has completed 100 million yuan C round financing, is planning to be listed in a shares.

"Thanks to all Chinese shareholders for their support of Evar", August 24, the first round of the Spanish league in the new season, the first time to participate in the La Liga Evar team, through the billboard, to the Chinese shareholders to extend their thanks.

Evar, a small team from northern Spain, has just been promoted from Serie B, but because the team is not up to the Spanish standard and is likely to be unable to compete, it has had to raise money through the Internet to sell shares to the world. The incident was soon sent to the Chinese netizens to the tiger-bashing sports community (hereinafter referred to as Tiger flutter), Tiger-bashing users launched a subscription activities. In the end, the Evar team raised enough funds within the stipulated time, and China became its second largest shareholder source.

Tiger Flutter is China's largest sports-type vertical community. It provides both basketball, football, tennis, racing and other mainstream professional sports information, but also in accordance with the type of sports and team segmentation of various forums, as well as games, sports lottery, E-commerce Shopping Guide and other sections. July 2014, Tiger Flutter has completed 100 million yuan C round financing, is planning to be listed in a shares.

How to rise rapidly

One of the founders of Tiger-bashing Chenghang is a basketball fan. While studying for a Ph. D. at Northwestern University, he found that the NBA information provided by China's sports portal was difficult to meet the needs of a basketball fan, which was already covered in many different ways.

2004, the predecessor of Tiger Flutter Hoopchina forum (hoop is the meaning of basketball in American slang) on-line. Chenghang in spare time to translate a lot of the Chinese media are missing the NBA news. Hoopchina Forum's rich information, gradually attracted more and more starving Chinese basketball fans.

At this time the tiger flutter another founder Yang Bing, has established "Basketball Horizon" forum in China. Cheng, Yang met on the internet, through Skype and mail to keep in touch. Later two people found that each other want to do things very well, so 2006, the two forums were combined into operation, that is, tiger flutter embryonic form. 2007 Chenghang Home, Tiger Flutter began to operate the company.

Tiger flutter can rise rapidly in the early days, depending on the following factors:

First, the number of Chinese basketball fans has risen sharply. Yao Ming entered the NBA Houston Rockets as a champion in 2002, followed by the second peak of Chinese basketball fans ' growth in the last century of the 90, when Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to conquer the NBA. From Jordan to Yao Ming, a growing number of young Chinese fans watching the NBA, basketball has become one of the hottest sports in China, creating a huge user base for tiger flutter.

Second, to occupy the information Highland. Occupy information Highland is divided into two kinds of means, the first is to provide differentiated information. Those two generations of basketball fans (who followed Jordan and Yao Ming to become fans) followed the footsteps of the game, and China's Internet development is almost synchronized. These fans are good at using the Internet to access information, and the Internet has also made their appetite more, but the Chinese forum, portals, sports newspapers and other information provided by the basketball has not fed them.

In the United States, Chenghang found that the U.S. sports media have a lot of unique, they are in a more angle, some is Chenghang previously never recognized angle, for the audience to create enjoyment of sports such as basketball opportunities.

Ice said: "This is a lot of work, painstaking." "One of the sports, this for the tiger flutter also he has consistently translated the American media's multi-angle coverage of the NBA to Tiger-bashing users. In addition, because the Chinese media on the basic information about basketball is very little, Chenghang and Yang Bing began to consciously to complement this piece. They and some netizens have written a large number of articles introducing basketball tactics, but also wrote the NBA star biography, the Alliance system, history and so on. These high-quality content for tiger flutter laid a reputation. It began to spread more widely among basketball fans.

Another means of seizing the information heights is the crowdsourcing. When China's "Sports Weekly", "basketball pioneer", the portal and other limited reporters from the United States to send back the report, and then passed to the reader, there are more and more Tiger users follow the footsteps of Chenghang, spontaneous participation in the American media they are interested in the NBA report. The content was seen almost synchronously by netizens in China and the United States. Even a few times, the Tiger pounced on the media before the release of the industry's blockbuster news, which comes from the user's explosive material. Chenghang once asked a tiger flutter to provide insider information to the user, why so rare news to Tiger flutter? The user said, he dives in the forum for a long time, very like tiger flutter and tiger flutter on people, want to do something for everyone.

Third, constantly explore the grassroots of opinion leaders. In the development of Tiger flutter, a part of the user because of excellent writing, knowledge, basketball skills and tactics have a unique understanding of their articles have been sought after, reading volume and response volume are quite high. Although they are not professional sports media background, but in the station to obtain similar sports media, the status of the chief commentator, with great prestige. The existence of these people, let the tiger flutter speech quality height has been promoted, also improved the user stickiness, and brought new users. On the other hand, these opinion leaders are invited by TV stations and websites to do event commentators or receive other invitations to publish star biographies, columnists, etc.

Its four, strict quality control. Although the tiger flutter by translation NBA information started, but as a forum, it on the article style, professional perspective requirements, not as strict as sports media. At the same time, tiger Flutter also rejected like other forum models, such as the article too lyrical, lack of "dry goods" and so on. Fans view added "dry goods", so that those who really like basketball, insightful people, attracted and become a loyal tiger-bashing users.

At present, tiger Flutter has established different team exchange area. This can help to increase the depth of content, but also reduce the possibility of different team supporters attack each other, further improve the user experience. Of course, the heat of the Forum also need to be debated and debated to maintain, tiger flutter therefore created a special topic area. This section for the support of different teams of the user groups to fight, but strictly control the discussion border, the personal attack, abuse and other content 0 tolerance, and the relevant users to be prohibited punishment.

In addition to basketball, Tiger Flutter also established a sports-related section to facilitate the wider exchange of users who have been linked to the game, and thus retain these users.

Below the line and then sink

2007, Chenghang has also created a focus on football goalhi and focus on racing sports HelloF1 two sites;

April 2012, Chenghang will Hoopchina, Goalhi and HelloF1 three independent sites all unified under the hupu.com domain name. This is also seen as a tiger flutter from a basketball-themed community to the sports portal site change. In this respect, Yang Bing said: "Portal is a skin, tiger flutter of the core is still a community, the future Tiger-bashing overall form will be more to community recycling, Community nature exhibition more." ”

In fact, the real change is that Tiger flutter has become a service to the needs of users of sports companies. Online sections (including Web sites and mobile terminals) are service-line requirements, a tool for online business, and offline sections (hosting activities) meet offline requirements.

"Tiger flutter with different tools to serve the needs of different stages of the sports population." A person, he has the need to obtain sports information, the need to express ideas, this is the function of the community to meet. He also has the need to buy sports equipment, have the need to participate in sports, have to watch the game, see the star's needs. "Yang Bing said.

The combination of online community and offline activities, and the involvement of sports industry, is the direction of commercial exploration of tiger flutter. 2013, in the United States GDP, sports industry accounted for nearly 3%, the scale of almost 500 billion U.S. dollars, while China's sports industry output value, only around 300 billion yuan, accounting for the proportion of GDP is 0.56%. The disparity between China and the United States at this level means that the future sports industry is likely to have a huge rise in space.

At present, the tiger-bashing income, mainly from brand advertising, offline events and sales of users: Brand advertising revenue from car manufacturers, well-known sports shoes and so on, the form of the tiger-bashing site ads, they value the flow of tiger flutter. The income of the offline event includes, as the organizer, in the "NBA star Tour" and other competitions, received ticket income and sponsorship fees. In the meantime, the tiger flutter needs to help sponsors to carry on the line, the line unifies integrated marketing. Sales of users, including lottery sales, network game pool, sports equipment, such as electric Business Guide.

"2013 gross income is almost Shi, 2014 should be more than 200 million." "Yang Bing said.

Tiger flutter has also tried water e-commerce. March 2009, the Tiger launched the main sports shoes clothing independent electric platform-calorie mall. But two years later, the platform was forced to close. Chenghang that the reason for the failure of the tiger-bashing is that the tiger flutter for the upstream brand bargaining power is very weak, platform margin is too thin.

"Strong brands, such as Nike, Adi, etc., it does not need to push in your channel, and do not need to buy traffic, because it as long as the goods, you can quickly shot." In addition, some electric competitors, have the wind to do the backing, has been wantonly burning money, tiger flutter at all can not burn them. "Chenghang said.

Sports is not only TV sports, keyboard sports, but also live sports. The line is a huge market, the tiger flutter in the sinking. The development of sports industry in America has much to do with the development of professional sports, but it is also that sport has become a part of American life. In the United States, the frequency of individual participation in sports is very high, sports events have been covered in the community, campus. The proliferation of grassroots Sports is the foundation of the Development of American sports industry.

The survey shows that people who often take part in physical exercise in China are less than 30% of the total population, far behind 70% of the developed countries. Tiger Flutter is now doing, is deep ground, light grassroots sports. 2013, Tiger flutter has taken out 100 million yuan to support the development of local sports events.

Tiger flutter development of the general direction is, first go to the line to conquer the city's fan club, to help fans offline activities, and then the foreign Excellent club and star to pull to China, do offline games. This will involve sponsors, contractors, local enterprises, local sports Bureau and other links. Compared with other online sports service organizations, Tiger flutter has been deeply involved in such competitions, and has a great competitive advantage in understanding the relationship and information.

Tiger Flutter has a higher ideal, that is, through sports, cultivate Chinese youth self-improvement, competition, the spirit of compliance with the rules.

"Other Internet companies don't feel that way," he said. "Chenghang said.