Cashing in on fan culture

Sport may be enjoying an unprecedented boom in China, but the country's growing fan bases still represent an untapped gold mine for clubs, cities and regions, according to industry insiders.

"Fan culture and merchandise development could be a major source of income for the sports industry," Eric Gao, CEO of iRENA, China's leading sports industry platform company, said at the recent Fan Culture and Merchandise Development Forum in Beijing.

"We're not just talking about cultural icons, but business potentials in general. Fan culture around sports can be cities' calling cards."