Interview with Jiao Fengbo, general manager of Zhejiang team: All roads, no shortcuts!

Text/Jia Yanfeng In the early winter of the Hyatt Regency Hotel Changchun, in the Regency Club on the 42nd floor, the hustle and bustle of the city is outside the window, but the window seems to be another world, a quiet and warm atmosphere is gently shrouded.

There was a steaming cup of coffee on the table, and a steaming can of soda. The combination of ice and fire is Jiao Fengbo's favorite. The reporter asked him why he liked this combination, and he smiled and said, "Don't you think it's very much like our life?" Sometimes passionate, sometimes calm as ice, the essence of life is to find a balance between the two. After every peak, there must be peace and calmness to precipitate, and every trough also needs a little enthusiasm to ignite. ”

In the past two seasons, for Jiao Fengbo, it may be an exaggeration to describe it as "torture", but it may be more appropriate to use "test". But he had no desire to state what seemed to outsiders to be called a "difficult" ordeal. "I just did what I was supposed to do." He said indifferently, "The growth of the team requires everyone's efforts, not the aura of one person." "He only opens up when he talks about specific topics related to the business.

We started with a lighter home attendance and talked about the past, present and future of the club.

◆"Football": A few days ago, I looked at the data on the home attendance rankings of each team, and it was very interesting, Zhejiang team ranked second to last in the league with an average of 8,000 people per game in the 2023 season, but this season has an average of 19,800 people per game at home, ranking seventh overall.

Jiao Fengbo: Actually, I have a little complicated emotions in my heart about the increase in attendance. At the beginning of the year, I decided to leave Huzhou and return to Huanglong, and the decision-making process was very difficult, mainly emotionally and morally. In our most difficult time, Huzhou gave us great support and help, not only the venue is free, but also provides a certain subsidy to the team, and we have not forgotten the warmth of sending charcoal in the snow. In terms of the convenience of team training and life, and the convenience of meeting the surrounding fans to watch the game, Huanglong is more suitable, plus after the Asian Games, the venue, lighting, seats and other software and hardware have been upgraded, and the transportation is also more convenient, and finally decided to come back.

◆I heard that the operating costs of returning to Huanglong have increased a lot, such as stadium rental fees, and security fees, so although the ball market looks good, what is the actual income compared to in Huzhou, has the club counted it?

If compared with Huzhou, the overall income is definitely higher, but it is not too high, because there is also a difference in cost input, in Huzhou we do not need to pay for the home field, but in Huanglong we have to pay the rent, this year down the price difference is a lot. As I told you earlier, this is not entirely a matter of ticket revenue difference, but the result of a comprehensive evaluation. Judging from this year's home operation, we are better than in previous years in terms of the growth trend of public welfare stands and home fans.

◆Football: Speaking of the growth of the number of fans, recently all over the country is trying to solve the problem of the number of open seats in the stadium. What is the club's attitude towards opening up more of the home stands?

Jiao Fengbo: For home ticket sales, the number of seats we have open for each game is sufficient, and even the number of seats we have at the moment cannot be sold out in every game. This is our first season back to the Yellow Dragons, and we still need to work on many aspects to improve the attendance at home. We have not yet proposed a plan to increase the number of seats in the stadium, but we are still considering fixing the current number of fans first.

◆The opening of more stands also heralds an increase in security costs, which increases when a comparable number of tickets cannot be sold, so there is no particularly strong demand for more seats if the club is not absolutely sure about box office sales. Is it understandable in this way?

In fact, the situation of each city is different, and it is not simply considered from the dimension of cost and benefit. The input-output ratio is important, but the core point of whether the number of agents will increase or not is not here.

In the digital age, there are many ways for fans to watch the game, and going to the stadium is no longer the only option. For example, for example, many people now say that online shopping has impacted physical stores, but no one says that the rise of online medical treatment has impacted the flow of people in physical hospitals, why? Because there are many contents of on-site medical treatment that cannot be replaced by online medical treatment, such as blood drawing, filming, and examination. Football is the same thing, although the on-site viewing experience is different from online, but the time cost and travel cost paid for on-site viewing are also N times that of online, if the atmosphere of the game site, the service experience, and the quality of the game contributed by both sides of the game add up to make fans feel that it is not worth the time, effort and money, then it is very likely not to go to the scene. At present, we have on-site game day services, because there are many things we want to do but can't do, that is, we can't provide an absolute on-site experience that online viewing can't replace, so the number of open seats is not the most urgent help for us at the moment.

◆The club's carnival was a great one, and I've heard and seen some fans who have participated in the carnival complimented me online.

When the carnival was held in Huzhou, it received considerable support from the Huzhou Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government. Because it is an entertainment activity outside the stadium, it needs a relatively fixed area to carry out, the demarcation of this area needs to be supported, and the content of the carnival also needs to be recognized and reviewed by relevant departments, which may involve catering, sales, performances and other content, once people gather, it is bound to need the approval of the government department and the guarantee of the security department, so all the arrangements and marketing work of the club on the game day need great support and assistance from the local government. This year, the focus of our home operation is not on the carnival, but on the public welfare grandstand project, and we will further build the carnival in the future if possible.

◆I have been to Japan many times for interviews, and I have seen that many J-League home stadiums have different seating options, for example, what impressed me the most was the kind of family seats, which also had the configuration of child safety seats, and the couple seats, and then the position and width of the seats were also set individually.

The concept you said is good, not only in Japan, when I was on a business trip to Stuttgart, I also found that their VIP box operation is very good, but the ownership of these stadiums should belong to the club, so they have the right to renovate the venue, and we are renting the Huanglong home stadium, so there is a limit in the renovation and configuration of the stadium facilities. I also once imagined that if we were in the box of our home stadium, with Hangzhou's special snacks, the best West Lake Longjing, and even two sets of Hanfu, whether you want to taste the food or take pictures, it will definitely make the guests remember and promote the city's characteristic culture.

◆Football: You've always focused on tournament operations and attracting investment, so don't you think about recruitment? You must know that many fans are looking forward to it, and some fans even fantasize that the team can spend a lot of money to buy strong reinforcements next year and return to the top three!

Jiao Fengbo: At present, it is still in the run-in period after the share reform, the club's future development strategic planning and development direction may need to be further confirmed, but the basic business and operation ideas are more likely to continue, even if there is financial support, but the probability will not suddenly be too much in a certain link, the pursuit of good results is what we have been longing for, but the way to obtain good results must not be based on the way of assault money.

◆Youth training has been the focus of Zhejiang club for many years, some time ago the Hangzhou Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government also expressed the importance of football work, especially to youth training, what is the planning of youth training at the club level?

Over the years, we have gained a lot in youth training, trained a lot of players for national brands at all levels, and there are also many professional players produced by Greentown in the entire Chinese professional league, and we will continue to do a good job in youth training in the future, but we want to upgrade the focus of work and add a little difficulty to youth training, we want to aim at overseas and world football, and hope that in the future we can cultivate excellent players who have the ability to gain a foothold on the world stage. After years of exploration and discussion, we have a preliminary plan, will focus on the delivery of players to stay abroad, and have made some attempts. Liuyang is not simply to select some players to send them out and let them adapt alone, nor is it enough to let the team accompany them to adapt, but it is necessary to prepare earlier and exercise their corresponding abilities, which is a systematic project. I hope that in the future, we can make a breakthrough in this area and contribute to the country.

◆Football: The team has been through a lot in the past two years, but the club and the team have been relatively stable, and the players have not had negative emotions because of the difficulties and uncertainties of the club, and they can still focus on the game. How is this done?

Jiao Fengbo: We have a very systematic operation method in recruitment: first, we have our selection criteria in terms of personal ability, personality traits and football resume; Secondly, we will also control the number of reinforcements, we will not introduce a large number of domestic players in the same season and the same time period, let alone introduce multiple domestic players at the same time, because that will directly change the basic ecology and atmosphere of a team. All the players who join the Zhejiang club are like bamboo shoots, layer by layer, all of which are closely attached to the club's core culture and values, and everyone is strengthening the entire system, rather than rebuilding a system around a certain player. This is one of the reasons why our team has a strong ability to resist pressure.

◆Before you know it, you've been a general manager for more than seven years. In the past seven years, you have experienced the epidemic and share reform during your tenure, and you have also witnessed the process of Chinese football from prosperity to decline, plus you are a professional player, so from your point of view, what is the most important problem to be solved to revitalize Chinese football?

The failure to form a good industrial chain and value chain is the most regrettable aspect of the development of the professional league in the past 30 years. As a club, there are three parts of the product that can be output: first, wonderful competition performances and good viewing experience; the second is to cultivate outstanding athletes, be positive on and off the field, and create stars to become idols; The third is value derivation, brand blessing, influence blessing, and commercial value transformation. In my opinion, the entire industry has missed the best period of incubation and cultivation, especially failed to grasp the extension and development of Jinyuan Football's highlight moments and do a good job in business value conversion. It's a shame that most clubs are more focused on season results and miss out on sustainable opportunities.

Facts have proved that it is difficult to go long for "throwing money, piling up people, and only competing", and only clubs that can achieve sustainable development should be worthy of praise and recognition. It is the inheritance of the century-old club, and the inheritance is not the results, but the emotion and loyalty, so we can't only focus on the relationship between the club's management and the fans, we need to provide more services to the fans. I believe that in the future, Chinese football will be better, under the leadership of the party and the state, at the competitive level, deeply cultivate professionalism and not do pseudo-professions; At the industrial level, the long-term vision is better than not being stronger; In terms of talents, the world benchmark, go out and apply what you have learned. The most important sentence: all roads, no shortcuts!

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