Can Baseball Finally Hit a Home Run in China?

(Beijing) – Professional sports seemed like an attractive investment to property developer Wang Jianwen. But, unlike his peers who invested in the white-hot markets of basketball and soccer, Wang is betting on a sport more obscure in China…baseball.

In 2014, Wang's company, Hengda Lianghe Investment Co., signed an agreement with the country's sports authorities for the exclusive rights to the commercial development of official baseball games in China, paying 6 million yuan a year for 16 years. He cut the deal shortly before the government vowed to create a sports industry worth 5 trillion yuan by 2025.