According to data of Analysys, in December 2016, Hupu Sports, Dongqiudi and Sina Sports respectively ranked top 3 on permeability of active users among China's Mobile Sports Information Apps with the rates respectively of 26.8%, 23.7% and 23.0%. The starting of the regular games of the 2016-2017 season of NBA and CBA remarkably boosted the number of active users of Hupu Sports, and Hupu Sports raised to the first place within the industry on active user coverage of sports information in December. Renowned for basketball information, though Hupu Sports also included information in other fields such as football and car racing, most of the active users were still fans of basketball games. Therefore, the starting of NBA and CBA which had relatively popularity in China had driven quick growth of active users of Hupu Sports. Dongqiudi ranked second in the on permeability of active users among mobile sports information apps and maintained an upward trend. In addition, in the football field, presently Dongqiudi faces no obvious competitors. Its self-mediaDongqiuhao and the community circles have made many football fans their highly engaged users. With the kick-off of the Chinese Super League and AFC Champions League in 2017Q1, a great number of football fans will be attracted into the Dongqiudi platform, and the permeability of active users is estimated to be further enhanced. The permeability of active users of Sina Sports also increased to some extent in December, which had something to do with Sina's intensification on interactions between Weibo and Sports App. In addition, before Tencent obtained the exclusive new media broadcasting rights of NBA, Sina Sports had gathers relatively great number of NBA fans. Most of the fans are post-80s and have used get some news and information on NBA games through Sina Sports. Therefore, the starting of NBA games also resulted in increase of active users. According to the overall permeability of active users of the industrial Top 3, the market concentration of China's mobile sports information industry increased to some extent, and large-sized information platforms with some reputations were more attractive to new users.
According to Analysys's research, in 2016Q4, the overall user cohesiveness indicators of Top 3 companies in mobile sports information field was slightly higher compared with that in Q3. The per capita daily use length and per capita daily use frequency of Hupu Sports both increased, with the per capita daily use frequency up to 8 times. The per capita daily use length of Dongqiudi slightly decreased while the per capita daily use frequency slightly increased. As a comprehensive sports information platforms, Sina Sports also had increase in user adhesiveness indicator in Q4, indicating that the large compressive sports information platforms could still attract some sport fans. However, compared with vertical sports information platforms, the user orientation of comprehensive sports information platforms is hard to grasp and the establishment of community circle cultures and cultivation of highly engaged users is greater.
According to the following month user retention rate of the Top 3 China's mobile sports information Apps in Q4, the following month user retention rate of these three leading companies all increased. The following month user retention rate of Dongqiudi increased the peak of 72.49% in December, a growth of over 10% compared with that in October. The high user retention rate of over 70% indicated that Dongqiudi took the lead among other companies on width and depth of the original football information. In addition, on aspect of football community culture construction, by offering the function of "My Favorite Team", Dongqiudi successfully achieved relatively strong sense of belonging among the new fans. Before the Spring Festival, personnel from Dongqiudi personally visited Real Madrid Club, presented the award to Cristiano Ronaldo who was appraised the 2016 MVP by football fan voting on Dongqiudi's platform and made exclusive interview with him. Such activities showed the influence of Dongqiuqi to the fans, enhanced their sense of participation, which was one of the reasons that the user retention rate of Dongqiudi was relatively high. The user retention rate of Hupu Sports in December reached 63.36%, a slight increase compared with that in October, and most of the new users were retained by the platform. Compared with high user retention rate of vertical sports information platforms, the comprehensive sports information platform Sina Sports had somewhat lower overall user retention rate, which was only 54.22% in December, indicating that the platform failed to retain about half of the new users. According to user retention rate data, the vertical sports information platforms have relatively strong appeals on users and can retain more sports users with common interests and features.
According to Analysys’s analysis, to retain more users, sports information platforms are required to satisfy various types of "pain spots" in user demands, which are also important paths for sports information platforms to explore more profit models. For example, in Q4, Dongqiudi introduced the brand new pitch reservation function and invited operators of football pitches all across the country to join the platform. Presently, the number of football pitches in China remarkably cannot satisfy the user demands. However, with the great platform of Dongqiudi, a great number of operators on football pitches may be attracted. And the huge active user basis will also bring a great number of customers for those operators and increase the pitch utilization rate. The service will also be an important link in Dongqiudi's future profit models. In 2017, Dongqiudi also successively launched "I'm Coach Online" and Footaball Lottery recharging services to further satisfy various demands on funniness and functionality of the users. Therefore, the connection of supply and demand sides by sports information platforms on one hand enhanced the user satisfaction and on the other enriched the profit models of the companies.
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Research Notes：
Industrial analysis provided by Analysys is made mainly based on macroeconomic industrial data, final quarterly user survey data, historical data of the companies, quarterly business monitoring information of companies, etc. by Analysys's industrial analysis models with reference to market research, industrial research and company research approaches. And such analysis mainly reflects the market status quo, trends, break points and rules as well as the development status quo of companies.
Analysys believes that the data drawn according to the abovementioned industrial research approaches is within the recognized acceptable error range within the industry and can accurately reflect the industrial trends and change rules.
Such research outcomes made based on professional research approaches aim to provide decision reference. For the actual data of a specific company, please refer to the financial reports released by that company.
Analysys Overview:
Analysys is a leading big data analysis company in the Chinese market. Since the establishment, Analysys has established the big data and analysis service ecological system cored by massive digital user assets and algorithm models. Analysys has been dedicated in providing product services such as digital user portraits and competition analysis and assisting in product operation for enterprises; and assisting enterprises in increasing revenues, saving expenditures, increasing effectiveness and evading risks by operation and management on digital user assets of the enterprises. The products in Analysys Family include Analysys Qianfan, Analysys Fangzhou, Analysys Wanxiang and Analysys Boyue. By December 31, 2016, Analysys had covered 1.51 billion intelligent terminals and monitored over 1.56 million mobile APPs.