Chinese horse fans would have expected more on the deregulation in the industry.
China Athletic Association announced that there is no approval required for commercial marathon races on the first week of 2015. Marathon may not be the only deregulated item. The General Administration of Sport of China reduced the approval procedure for many mature commercial sport events in 2014.
An industry participant expressed that the approval fee for a sport event is four hundred thousand Yuan. However, no one knows where the money goes to. The cancelation of approval requirement reduces the barrier for commercial sport events and opens the door for professional sport market.
It could be expected a domino effect in the sport market. The beneficiary industry includes kick-boxing, tennis, horse racing and equestrian.
“With the reduction in approval procedure, once the foreign horse owner or syndicator agrees, we want to organize more commercial international racing and equestrian events in China, such as the 2014 Chengdu Dubai International Cup” an industry expert said.
The uncertainties may be in the form of naming rules, role of authorities, and maintaining fairness. Also, most of the regulators are the event organizers. The monopolized nature in sport industry may not be eliminated. On the other hand, the restrictions from the safety and environment regulations are still barrier for commercial sport events. There may not be free lunch without the monitoring from authorities.