Mia in Shanghai (@Eves_escape) “Turns out, the most interesting part of the World Cup isn’t always the game itse” — TopicDigg

Just look at the atmosphere around the Chinas's Jiangsu Football City League🇨🇳⚽🔥 In 2025, this provincial league alone ran for 176 days and 85 matches: • 2.2 billion livestream views • social media traffic exceeding roughly $14 billion USD in exposure value • generating billions of RMB in local revenue — worth several billion USD Then came 2026 Opening Ceremony: 🤖 290 robots and robot dogs dancing in formation 🏎️ 40 electric kart racers circling the stadium 🚁 2,026 drones lighting up the night sky 📱 Nearly 91.2 million total media impressions And this is only one province. China has many leagues and local sports ecosystems like this. So the question becomes practical, not emotional: why spend $250–300 million USD on FIFA broadcasting rights, when around 70% of matches air between 2am and 9am Beijing time, and the Chinese men’s team isn’t even in the tournament? What exactly can FIFA still offer Chinese audiences that local sports culture increasingly cannot?🤔 @FIFAcom @FIFAWorldCup @JiangsuNow @ModernJiangsu