How China is Gaining Sports Marketshare: The Rise of Anta
While Saudi Arabia is deploying into sports IP, China is quietly taking over one of the most important segments of the industry.
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China’s Backdoor Play into Sports
Take a look at most of your sports gear, and you’ll see…
“Made in China”.
This has always baffled me for one main reason:
How did China let Western countries build huge companies around sports gear that are produced in their country…without them owning any of the equity upside?
Well…that has been changing quicker than you think.
When looking at this chart, you’ll see Anta is now the third-largest sportswear company in the world.
And when you add in some of their subsidiaries/investments (which I’ll showcase in a bit), they are on their way to being the largest in the world.
Let’s Dive In 👇
How Chinese Corporations Operate
To start, you’ll probably be like…
“Well, Andrew, it’s not China building this company, but a Chinese company called Anta”.
That’s true.
However, for better or worse (depending on your perspective), all large Chinese companies operate within a system where the government is deeply involved.
You could make a similar argument for American companies.
The difference is:
American companies influence leverage over the government
The Chinese government influences leverage over its companies
There’s also a spectrum. In China, tech giants like Tencent and Alibaba have seen stronger state intervention than consumer-facing companies like Anta, though none are immune.
And this does happen in America too…
Tech platforms like Meta and Google have bent to government pressure around elections, misinformation, and antitrust.
That’s a topic for another day, so let me show you how Anta/China is reclaiming equity in the apparel world.
The Story of Anta
Anta was founded in 1991 in Fujian province, China.
For decades, this region churned out sneakers, but the equity, branding, and profits flowed back to the West (i.e. Reebok, Nike, Adidas)
What caught my eye?
Within China, Anta was long dismissed as a knock-off brand, battling Li-Ning and others for scraps.
But Anta’s leadership understood something: China didn’t want to just make shoes for the world; it wanted to build brands that owned the world.
The turning point came in 2007 when Anta went public in Hong Kong, right before the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.
This is also when you start to see the government ties flow in:
With fresh capital, they didn’t just expand their own brand…
They used acquisitions and licensing deals to capture global assets that once belonged firmly to the West.
Let’s take a look at those now: