Why RedNote (Xiaohongshu) Bet Big on the World Cup

Some thoughts on the World Cup in China this year.

China is soccer-crazy, but that hasn’t translated into on-field success from the men’s team. There was a great piece from Mark Dreyer in The Economist recently on why China failed to qualify yet again (their only qualification came in 2002). But there’s still a great buzz around the tournament in China.

This year the most interesting development from a fan perspective is that RedNote (Xiaohongshu) won online broadcasting rights. The app has built a designated page for viewing all matches live, as well as tournament information, day reaps, full match replays and highlights, commentary from analysts and fans, prediction tools, and other interactive features (see photo).

Securing these rights cost RedNote US$350 million—but the platform has made matches free to watch. It’s part of a bet to broaden RedNote’s 250-million-strong user base, which skews heavily female. Content on the platform traditionally focuses on lifestyle areas like fashion, beauty, travel, etc. The World Cup is an opportunity to bring on more male users and older sports fans.

(To give Western readers an idea, RedNote is often compared to Pinterest or Instagram. It’s sort of strange to imagine those apps serving as the main viewing channel for an event like the World Cup, but that’s where China’s mobile-first, platform-centric media ecosystem is at).

I think it’s a safe bet from RedNote. Even with matches happening at weird times for the China market, the World Cup is a massive draw. Douyin had online broadcasting rights in 2022, and 230 million people watched the final live.

After seeing RedNote go wild today over Messi’s hattrick—Messi is a fan favourite here—I think it’s a smart play from the platform.