US college football team broadcasts game in Mandarin

Global Business

College football in the U.S. has yet to catch on abroad like the professional U.S. version. The University of Illinois is now hoping to change that by providing the first ever radio broadcast of its football games in Mandarin.

American college football is a multi-billion dollar business in the United States. The biggest college football programs make tens of millions of dollars a year in ticket sales and broadcast deals. But the sport is looking to get bigger, and looking to expand to the Chinese market.

CCTV’s Roza Kazan reports from the small U.S. college town of Champaign, Illinois.

Follow Roza Kazan on Twitter @rozakazancctv

US college football team broadcasts game in Mandarin

College football in the U.S. has yet to catch on abroad like the professional U.S. version. The University of Illinois is now hoping to change that by providing the first ever radio broadcast of its football games in Mandarin. American college football is a multi-billion dollar business in the United States. The biggest college football programs make tens of millions of dollars a year in ticket sales and broadcast deals. But the sport is looking to get bigger, and looking to expand to the Chinese market. CCTV's Roza Kazan reports from the small U.S. college town of Champaign, Illinois.

More details:

  • Each broadcast costs around $300 per game, which goes to paying the announcers who speak in Mandarin.
  • The broadcasters also answer questions online through the Chinese micro-blogging platform WeChat.
  • The University of Illinois enrolls nearly 5,300 Chinese students, which is half of the school’s international student body and 12 percent of the entire student body of the University.