On August 5, the Paris Olympic Games tennis women's singles final opened. As a popular sport around the world, this game attracted widespread attention. As the first Asian player in history to enter the Olympic tennis final, the 21-year-old Zheng Qinwen defeated Croatian player Vikic to win the gold medal. This is the first time that a Chinese player has won the Olympic tennis women's singles gold medal. It is also the second gold medal won by China in the Olympic tennis competition after Li Ting and Sun Tiantian won the women's doubles gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Zheng Qinwen's performance in the Paris Olympics has created history for Chinese sports.

How much commercial traffic did Zheng Qinwen's victory bring?

Tennis has always had a high commercial value in the sports world. According to the ranking of the highest-paid female athletes in 2023 released by Forbes at the end of last year, the top ten highest-paid female athletes, except for Gu Ailing, who ranked second with 22.1 million US dollars, who is a freestyle skier, are all tennis players.

In 2023, Zheng Qinwen ranked 15th with an income of 7.2 million US dollars, and she is the second Chinese female tennis player to be on the Forbes list after Li Na. Before the opening of the Paris Olympics, Zheng Qinwen had already endorsed nearly ten brands, including Nike, Bawang Chaji, Lancome, Yili, and Ant Group. According to relevant data, after Li Na won the French Open, her advertising and endorsement income increased by about 30 times, and her income that year was as high as 138 million yuan. Zheng Qinwen's performance in the Olympic tennis arena has surpassed Li Na. Obviously, the weight of this Olympic gold medal will bring Zheng Qinwen even more unpredictable commercial value. After Zheng Qinwen won the championship, social media around the world was shocked. Major official media outlets have issued articles to congratulate her, and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) has issued a congratulatory article on its overseas social media account, calling Zheng Qinwen "Qinwen Queen of Paris!" The four Grand Slams (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open), the highest-level events in men's and women's professional tennis, also sent congratulations on social media platforms. The official account of the Olympic Games forwarded a sentence from Zheng Qinwen's post-match interview: "I deserve the word Queen Wen."

Zheng Qinwen drives the tennis economy to take off in the Chinese market

The Chinese market has always been a key development market for the tennis industry, but the tennis industry still has a lot of room for development in the Chinese market. According to the "2021 Global Tennis Report" released by the International Tennis Federation, the global population participating in tennis in 2021 was 87.18 million. China ranked second in the world with 19.92 million people, second only to the United States, accounting for 22.9% of the world's total tennis population. At the same time, the number of tennis courts in China is also the second largest in the world, reaching 49,767. Tennis coaches ranked fifth in the world with 11,350 people. As China's global influence continues to increase and per capita income continues to increase, tennis will inevitably come into the vision of more people. Meituan, one of China's largest retailers, released data showing that since July this year, searches for "tennis" have increased by more than 60% year-on-year. Consumers in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Guangzhou searched for tennis most frequently, with consumers aged between 25 and 35 accounting for more than 50%; at the same time, tennis experience classes and quarterly tennis training packages were hot on the platform, and the number of group purchase orders related to tennis increased by 172% year-on-year.

Tennis courts may also be more expensive and more difficult to book than before. Relevant data shows that from August 2 to August 9, almost all venues and sessions of tennis courts in Shanghai were booked. Many tennis courts in Beijing have also adjusted their prices, with the increase ranging from RMB 20 to RMB 50.

Zheng Qinwen's success has also boosted the sales of tennis-related products. According to data released by Vipshop, a Chinese e-commerce platform, since July, tennis skirts have become the favorite of more girls, with Vipshop's tennis skirt sales increasing by 91% year-on-year. Among those who buy tennis skirts, the number and increase of purchases by those born after 1995 and 2000 are particularly prominent, far exceeding other age groups, and they are the main consumers. From a regional perspective, women in first-tier and new first-tier cities are the followers of the tennis skirt trend.

The Olympics not only creates sports superstars, but also business leaders

To become a super sports superstar, you need to meet the following conditions:

• The sports event has wide attention in the world
• The individual's sports performance has been at the top level for a long time
• Can actively expand their positive influence in the social, economic and other fields outside the court Internet industry
• There is no conflict and opposition with the team, relevant departments, and international sports-related institutions

Zheng Qinwen almost meets all of the above conditions. In the Paris Olympics, Zheng Qinwen successfully ranked among the world's top athletes and is expected to become the next Gu Ailing.

Li Ning, the former Olympic gymnastics champion, founded his own brand after the game and achieved remarkable success. Although his success is difficult to replicate, the super commercial value of a sports superstar can be seen from him. Analyst Zhang Shule said that the commercial value of athletes is mainly reflected in some endorsement cooperation and activity expenses, and if you want to obtain further commercial value, you need to continuously refresh your record in the active stage to maintain your presence. Obviously, the public generally believes that Zheng Qinwen has such strength.

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