If the sponsors of the 2025 "Jiangsu Super League" (Jiangsu Province City Football League) were rushing to join after seeing the traffic potential, then in 2026, many brands are already争先押宝 (scrambling to place their bets early). On January 27th, the press conference for the 2026 Jiangsu Super League's business partners was held in Nanjing, where the list of sponsors for the new season was announced.
The list revealed that the new season features dual title sponsorship by "Jiangsu Bank · Suhao Holdings," with a matrix of 24 official sponsors including Guoyuan V3, Heilan Home, Haizhilang, Ant Afu, Yili, Adidas, and Coca-Cola.
This lineup is already completely different from when the Jiangsu Super League first kicked off in 2025—at that time, the league had only 6 sponsors. According to official disclosures, last season's total live attendance surpassed 2.43 million人次 (person-times), with an average attendance of 28,000 per game setting a record for provincial leagues.
Online live-stream viewership exceeded 2.2 billion人次 (person-times), and related topic views on social media platforms broke through 100 billion times. After becoming a全民热议 (nationwide hot topic) and全网追捧 (internet-followed) phenomenon-level event, it was learned that the competition for sponsorship slots in the new season was extremely fierce.
Compared to 2025, the most notable change in the 2026 sponsor list is the entry of Adidas. It was learned that Adidas will replace the previous season's sponsor, Kelme, to become the official apparel sponsor of the Jiangsu Super League.
According to reports, Adidas will serve as the official strategic partner, creating match kits and training equipment for all 13 participating teams. This is extremely rare for a provincial amateur league.
In the past, the marketing budgets of international brands like Adidas were typically allocated to national teams, top Chinese Super League clubs, or star players. Not long ago, the Chinese U23 men's national team's run to the finals of the Asian Cup made football a hot topic on social media.
The positive sentiment generated by this young team is重新激活 (reinvigorating) market attention and patience towards Chinese football. Coupled with the fact that 2026 is a World Cup year, major brands' commercial assessments of the Chinese football market are becoming less conservative.
A person from a sports brand consulting firm, Zhang Ping (pseudonym), stated that Adidas itself needs to establish deeper links with the Chinese market and increase its exposure. It is reported that resources like the Chinese national football team and top-tier leagues such as the CSL have long been secured by Nike.
For instance, Nike gear was seen on the Chinese players who won silver in the recently concluded U23 tournament. It was learned that Nike has been providing equipment for the 12 national men's and women's teams under the Chinese Football Association since 2015.
For Adidas to enhance its presence in domestic football, it must resort to "unconventional tactics," and the Jiangsu Super League represents such an opportunity for Adidas. "At the very least, Adidas believes the Jiangsu Super League can serve as a 'strategic amplifier' for them. Adidas's entry is a bellwether, indicating that international brands are beginning to acknowledge the commercial value of China's 'grassroots football'," Zhang Ping said.
Furthermore, the addition of fast-moving consumer goods giants like Yili and Coca-Cola further confirms the Jiangsu Super League's属性 (attribute) as a "traffic harvester." For these高频消费 (high-frequency consumption) brands, the league's average attendance of 28,000 spectators per game provides the most direct消费场景 (consumption scenario) for reaching下沉市场 (lower-tier markets).
It is worth noting that the Jiangsu Super League has not abandoned its grassroots foundation. The league committee has launched a "Small and Micro-enterprise Business Selection Cooperation Plan," which offers official sponsor benefits to small and micro-enterprises and individual businesses within Jiangsu Province.
The committee will allocate 32 slots, priced at 50,000 yuan each, to be allocated via a publicly verified lottery open to all small and micro-enterprises and individual businesses in the province, in exchange for benefits like轮播 (rotating) LED board exposure during matches, tickets, and标识使用权 (logo usage rights). This means that on the Jiangsu Super League stage, local street shops will appear alongside international brands.
Notably, just before this press conference, news about the "total sponsorship scale for the 2026 Jiangsu Super League breaking 202 million yuan" spread within the industry. This figure was later debunked. As of the time of writing on January 28th, the specific total sponsorship amount remains in a "to be decrypted" state.
Interviews revealed that several well-known sports brands are still adopting a wait-and-see attitude towards the Jiangsu Super League. Zhang Ping noted that this观望 (hesitation) is "understandable."
He believes: "The Jiangsu Super League is indeed popular, but is this popularity based on 'novelty' or on football itself? How long will it last? These are open questions. For major brands, sponsoring a non-professional league might not be cost-effective if it doesn't align with corporate strategy, offering only short-term exposure."
Among the list of sponsors, the mainstay sponsors like Jiangsu Bank, Suhao Holdings, Heilan Home, and Guoyuan V3 are still predominantly local Jiangsu enterprises. Breaking through the "local Jiangsu event" barrier and extending its influence nationwide is a crucial hurdle the Jiangsu Super League must overcome to transition from a "internet sensation" to a "long-term success."
In the view of many sports industry professionals, the commercial value of the Jiangsu Super League is still in the verification stage. From increased investment by international brands to continued观望 (hesitation) by others, 2026 might be the year this event truly faces market testing.
For the Jiangsu Super League, the key challenge lies not only in attracting brands to the table but, more importantly, in whether these sponsors will choose to stay once the initial hype subsides and normalcy returns.
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