Sandalwood advisors: The Olympic economy drives the consumption of small ball sports.

Although the Paris Olympics have concluded, the wave of sports consumption it generated continues to surge. According to Sandalwood data, since Jul-24, there has been a significant increase in consumption of sports categories such as table tennis and badminton, which are dominated by China. With Zheng Qinwen winning the tennis championship, enthusiasm for tennis consumption has also been fully unleashed. Overall, the sales share of the "Three Small Balls" on Tmall has rapidly expanded, with +123% y/y in the first week of Aug.

Queen Wen Drives Chinese Enthusiasm for Tennis

In tennis, after Chinese female player Zheng Qinwen successfully won the gold medal on Aug 3rd, becoming the first Chinese female tennis player to win an Olympic gold medal, discussions about "Queen Wen" and tennis have become widespread on social media. This relatively niche sport in China has seen a surge in tennis consumption.

Sandalwood's Tmall weekly data shows a y/y growth of +94% in the tennis category in the first week of Aug-24. Among them, brands such as Wilson under Amer Sports and Adidas have accelerated to +101% y/y and +257% y/y respectively, with the latter's market share in the tennis category rising to second place.

Badminton And Table Tennis Became Even Hotter

As dominant sports in China, the popularity of badminton and table tennis has been continuously rising during the Olympics. Sandalwood's Tmall data shows that table tennis accelerated +100% y/y in the first week of Aug. The demand for badminton has been increasing since Mar this year, with online sales growth consistently maintaining a double-digit level. Fueled by the Olympics, the sales data in the first week of August further surged to +137% y/y.

Looking at specific brands, Li-Ning has been the biggest beneficiary. Not only are the RHS brand(Under Li Ning) rackets under the company selling well, but the main Li-Ning brand has also seen a rapid increase in market share in the badminton and table tennis categories, leveraging the sales of Olympic-themed products (bags, clothing, shoes)

Please contact service@sandalwoodadvisors.com if you have interest in finding out more.