Alibaba diversification continues with new sports business
Alibaba has made sports is latest arena for diversification beyond the company's core e-commerce business, launching the Alibaba Sports Group.
Read more: Real Madrid teams up with e-commerce giant Alibaba
The Chinese e-commerce giant has already expanded into entertainment, cloud computing and electronics hardware this year.
Its latest venture will integrate such existing businesses into "a sports platform that will participate in different aspects of the professional sports industry, including sports copyrights, sports media, events, ticketing, etc."
Alibaba already has links to the football industry after forming a number of partnerships with European giants such as Bayern Munich and Real Madrid attracted to the huge market for e-commerce in the world's second-largest economy.
Yet the recent economic slowdown in China has hit consumer spending and forced the firm to lower its sales estimate for the third quarter.
Alibaba chief executive Daniel Zhang said:
Sports has the enduring ability to create shared happiness and encourage healthy lifestyles. Alibaba Sports Group aims to transform the China sports industry through the use Internet-based technologies to bring greater and better products and services to consumers, sports participants and sports fans alike.
