{"id":2096,"date":"2020-01-16T09:22:25","date_gmt":"2020-01-16T01:22:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uclubgroup.com.sg\/news-uri\/game-on-changing-china-sports-events-for-the-better\/"},"modified":"2024-07-09T13:37:23","modified_gmt":"2024-07-09T05:37:23","slug":"game-on-changing-china-sports-events-for-the-better","status":"publish","type":"news-uri","link":"https:\/\/uclubgroup.com.sg\/zh-hans\/news-uri\/game-on-changing-china-sports-events-for-the-better\/","title":{"rendered":"Game On: Changing China Sports Events For The Better"},"content":{"rendered":"

UClub member Runnar and its game-changing founder Chang Chun<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many people see marathons as a weekend interest, a form of weekly exercise, or even a competitive sport perhaps, but in the eyes of Chang Chun, marathons \u2013 especially in China \u2013 are a multi\u2013milliondollar business opportunity.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chang Chun is the co-founder and CEO of Runnar, a game-changing sports-industry focused software as a service (SaaS) catering to marathons and other competitive sports racing events. As a semi-professional athlete, sport has been an integral part of Chang\u2019s life. As an undergraduate student at Beijing Sports University he studied the intricacies of sports management, or lack thereof at the time. Working in various industry related roles, including as a facilities management assistant at the2008 Beijing Olympic Games, fuelled his love and passion for the industry. But he felt there was something lacking in the China market.<\/p>\n

An emerging industry<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 2008 Beijing Olympics was perhaps the first time the world took note of Beijing and modern China. The Chinese lion was just rousing from its long slumber, stretching its legs as it prepared to take the world by storm. Likewise, the sports administration practices there at the time still mirrored the soviet style of government\u2013led sports programs: while they produced select top athletes, there was almost no focus on health and lifestyle-oriented programmes for the masses \u2013 it was all about chasing Olympic medals. On top of that, there was also the unspoken knowledge of systemic corruption, along with the stereotype of unemployed retired athletes scraping by on the fringes of society. Sports management still had a very long way to go.<\/p>\n

With several years of work experience under his belt and a bachelor\u2019s degree in sports management, Chang knew he needed even more exposure to the outside world. He had already seen the success of much smaller countries, and it didn\u2019t come down to genetics and\/or government programmes alone \u2013 holistically healthier nations produced better athletes. He may not have been able to articulate it at the time, but Chang knew there was an opportunity in the Chinese market, but he needed more knowledge and experience. Chang decided to venture to the United States of America, where he knew he could learn a lot more about the administration of sports at Springfield College in Massachusetts \u2013 the birthplace of Basketball, the progenitor of Volleyball, and home to thousands of athletic achievements. Concurrently, he would work as an events manager at Disney\u2019s ESPN Wide World of Sports, the largest sports complex in the world, personally involving himself in the institution\u2019s hosting of more than 230 events each year, which attracted close to 400k athletes every year.<\/p>\n

His time at Disney served as an important learning experience that would teach him two very important things. Firstly, Chang discovered the growing importance of the internet and technologyinfrastructure in the sports industry. The future development of sports would benefit hugely from the co-development of specialised technology. And secondly, he learnt about the power of combining Sports together with Tourism. It was a step away from the Chinese approach to sports management. In America, there was a focus on community, and through this, the shared experience of sport among athletes, families and friends. While the socio-cultural aspects were self-evident, Chang\u2019s new understanding of the American system revealed a new commercial aspect to thedevelopment model for Chinese sports management \u2013 one that was largely independent fromgovernment funded programmes, and was not only commercially viable, but was also whollysustainable.<\/p>\n

It was a life experience that would round out his vision for things to come.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Change<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAfter that experience, I found it very hard for me to fully maximise my value in the US. I saw that sport was, and still is undervalued in China.\u201d Said Chang. \u201cI decided to go back to China. My driving force was a desire for sports to be more valuable to Chinese people\u2019s daily lives. For Sports to become a tool and platform for people to live happier to healthier lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Returning to China in 2013, Chang notes there were only 35 marathon events. It was a gamble to be sure, but having experienced the euphoria of the Beijing Olympics, and being part of the risingChinese middle class, he knew there was a growing appetite. Chang could sense that change was imminent. When Chang returned to China, he focused on the concentrated demands of a core group of committed marathon enthusiasts. At the time, local participants were more interested in overseas events than local events, unsurprising given the limited number of professionally organised events. But it was difficult for local Chinese, many who could not communicate in English, to even find these overseas events, let alone enter and to pay for their race fees.<\/p>\n

Runnar was borne out of these pain points for competitors, but before long, it was evident that Chang\u2019s own background, experience and skillset in event management gave the company a distinct edge \u2013 it could serve both ends of the market. They created a SaaS that was capable of serving the entire competitive racing ecosystem.<\/p>\n

At the participants\u2019 end, Runnar\u2019s WeChat mini programs centralises all events onto one site, so that competitors are better able to identify, locate and enter races. They can register in any of the races directly through Runnar\u2019s website or mini programs. Thereafter, participants can buy equipment from Runnar\u2019s specialty ecommerce store located on the same site. But the flow cycle doesn\u2019t end at moment of purchase. The nature of racing requires each competitor to be physically present at therace destination, during which, Runnar provides online support, services and content through their mini programs to provide participants with smooth experience, including such as transportationcontent, push notifications with information relating to weather, race gear and clothing suggestions.<\/p>\n

At the event organizers\u2019 end, Runnar\u2019s B2B offerings are based on their cloud ERP system, RunnarCloud. Chang understood that race organizers are generally athletes themselves, more interested in the racing, competition and logistics, rather than the technical marketing and software backend. Runner acts as a web developer for race events, something which is typically time and resource demanding, and expensive too (on average 200k RMB per month, with no certainty of meeting their needs).<\/p>\n

\u201cOur business partners use Runnar Cloud, an Integrated sports event management system that can setup a unique website in 10 minutes at one-twentieth of the price. It is a huge boost for clients in terms of marketing, but also integrates our big data analytics systems.\u201d Says Chang.<\/p>\n

Marathons attract large numbers of entrants and good participation rates. Runnar uses big data to connect data such as previous race results and previous running tracks, to maximise operational efficiency of their clients\u2019 events. They pull source data from two sources: registered participants\u2019 details, and public running results from the China Athletic Association. To date, the application of that data to events have been a breakthrough for clients.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn that past, when our business partners organised races, they would have to guess when and where to place water stations. It was a guess at best because there are runners of various pacing. Oftentimes, there would be nothing left for the slower runners, who had paid the same race fees but received none of the benefits or race support. It was just a bad user experience.\u201d Says Chang. \u201cButour AI algorithm predicts everybody\u2019s pace; it also predicts how many runners will pass each stop at a given time. For example, big data can tell organizers there will likely be 500 runners coming through \u2018Water Station A\u2019 in the next half hour, and another 300 the half hour after.\u201d<\/p>\n

Runnar also provides hardware, ID checking devices and goody bag management systems for race organisers. The cumulative effect is reduced costs and increased operational efficiencies for clients, while maximising their marketing value. On the back of these elements, Runnar has grown exponentially, but Chang attributes a great deal of its success to its humble beginnings in a small 4-table room at UClub in Beijing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn September 2015, we signed on with UClub. After we moved in, I seemed as though everything accelerated. UClub brought a lot of high-quality support and services, including such things as legal, accounting, and advertising. At that time there were many community and political leaders visiting too, and that helped us to build up governmental opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The company has now extended beyond marathons to include events in fields as diverse as trail racing, and kayaking events. Currently, there are multiple races for more than 25 different sports throughout the year and there are plans for much more.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Golden era<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI have become an even stronger believer in the value of sports having seen it in the US.\u201d Says Chang. \u201cBut when I look at our generation in China and our kids in China, they are not fully enjoying the value of sports.\u201d<\/p>\n

This too, played a big part in Chang\u2019s motivation to start his business in China. With the mission of improving the wellbeing of people, Runnar aims to facilitate the Chinese sports industry to serve the people in China. The idea of sports has dramatically transformed with the rising incomes. People now have disposable incomes and are moving from being mere spectators to active participants.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was at Beijing Sports College, people would think that I was not smart enough to be at another college. But after 40 years of economic growth, people are finally beginning to understand the importance health.\u201d Says Chang. \u201cPeople are telling themselves \u2018I need to get healthy, I gottastop drinking\u2019. Their mentality is changing.\u201d<\/p>\n

And he is right. Sport is still relatively undervalued in China, but things are changing. In 2016, the China National Tourism Administration and the General Administration of Sport of China launched a series of measures to encourage cities to combine sports tourism with public recreation, andincreased the construction of public facilities for sports tourism. It was in the hope of achieving \u201cFive 100\u201d objectives by 2020: \u201c100 sports tourism destinations with significant influence\u201d; \u201c100 national level sports tourism demonstration bases\u201d; \u201c100 sports tourism boutique events\u201d; \u201c100 sports tourism boutique routes\u201d; and, \u201c100 sports tourism enterprises with great awareness and high market competitiveness\u201d.<\/p>\n

By 2018, there were 1,583 marathon events, compared to the 35 when Chang return home from the United States in 2013. The upside is huge too. Along with this change is the idea of sports tourism. According to Chang, there were 216 people per one million people in China who ran a Marathon, last year. Compared to Japan, there were 2,760 people for every million. And in the U.S. there were 1,528 marathoners for every million. If these numbers are correct, a huge growth opportunity is waiting in China.<\/p>\n

\u201cSport provides valuable personal growing experiences and teaches kids how to face challenges and overcome failure. They learn how to collaborate with others and to take personal success to a greater level.\u201d Says Chang. \u201cWe are in a golden era in China for sports tourism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with its events focused software business units, Runnar is building an offline business too, it has been approached by a number of big name property developers and local governments and has plans to build at least five sports and wellness resorts in China in the next five years; in Beijing, the Yangtze Delta region (Shanghai and Nanjing), the Greater Bay Area (Guangzhou, Zhuhai and Hong Kong) and Chengdu, as well as their existing resort in Sanya, Hainan.<\/p>\n

Changing the Game of the Future<\/strong><\/p>\n

Runnar has so far accumulated more than 500 event companies in China, more than 700,000 users,as well as a growing list of registered customers buying equipment, and booking tours. And because they are the only sports events organiser to serve both the businesses and consumers, they have four distinct advantages:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. With each race, they increase their user database, which in turn feeds into their AI platform. This allows them to enable their business clients, effectively creating a positive feedback loop.<\/li>\n
  2. Innovative research and development in their proprietary AI software technology has seenRunnar forge ahead of the competition.<\/li>\n
  3. A focus on the development of intellectual property \u2013 especially trademarks, event IPs andexclusive partnerships puts Runnar in a dominant position in the nascent participatory sports event space in China. Currently Runnar is the only Chinese company to partner with Thailand\u2019sThanyapura Health & Sports Resort, the leading sports resort brand in the world.<\/li>\n
  4. Cross border partners \u2013 hoteliers, sports, real estate \u2013 and an internationalised team withpeople from Japan, UK, and the US means Runnar has acquired and built their experience and knowledge of the booming international sports tourism market (All team members are required to run a marathon within the first 6 months of joining the company, unless you have a doctor\u2019s certificate!)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u201cPutting your foot on the ground to start a business is a different game. As a company you must develop your own advantages and core competencies to survive. After the past seven years, we are still doing that. Currently we are taking the company to the next level.\u201d Says Chang.<\/p>\n

    For the Game Changers of the Future<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Runnar is affecting change in the sports events industry at a pace and rate of change that is befitting of the Chinese market. But it\u2019s never smooth sailing. Chang knows the importance of having bigaudacious goals, but he insists the best step forward is to first find the smallest and narrowest entry point to keep the competition out. Chang advises to fully utilise the resources you have around you.<\/p>\n

    Secondly, as a game-changing entrepreneur Chang says the biggest risk of failure comes from losing self\u2013confidence. \u201cFinding ways to build up self\u2013confidence is key. We have to sacrifice salaries, family, vacations, many things. You will always have different challenges, so it is imperative that youmaintain a strong sense of self-confidence. Otherwise you will be easily beaten up and to quit.\u201d Says Chang. \u201cI recommend participating in sports \u2013 it will help build your self\u2013confidence and energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \n
    \"\"<\/div>\n
    \n

    \u201cDon\u2019t try to start it all by yourself. For Runnar, UClub was a blessing; it created not only office space, but a community of entrepreneur-friendly services. This is what we had to hand.\u201d Says Chang.<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    To learn more about Runnar, please visit website at www.runnar.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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