China Broadcasting: Real Madrid Loses Slot After Mbappe Gaffe

748 million euros. That is the value of La Liga international broadcasting rights for the 2024-25 season, a figure now under pressure from a dispute in China. The French national team captain Kylian Mbappe sparked the controversy after a video surfaced this week. In the clip, reportedly filmed in April, he described being amused by a meme that placed his face on a figure he identified as a Chinese dictator. He referred to the figure as Mao Zedong.

Mao remains officially revered in China as the founder of the People's Republic and the hero of the communist revolution. While historians attribute millions of deaths to his leadership, public ridicule of the former leader is considered a taboo. Mbappe is the latest foreign sports figure to anger Beijing with such remarks. The reaction from Chinese entities was immediate. Leading brands severed their partnerships with the 27-year-old player within days of the video circulating.

The Spanish top-flight league will also lose airtime. State broadcaster CCTV has removed La Liga matches from its schedule. Chinese state media and social media users condemned the striker, though many viewers were not informed of the specific words he used. In response, Mbappe, Real Madrid, and La Liga each issued apologies. A spokesman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the government took the apology seriously.

Analysts suggest the damage may persist despite these gestures. Veteran sports commentator Yan Qiang told AFP that the incident is clearly very damaging from an objective standpoint. He noted that the episode seriously harms the image of La Liga and Real Madrid in China. While he acknowledged that an apology is better than none, he described it as definitely not the end of the story.

Precedent exists for such financial hits. In 2019, China cut ties with the NBA after Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted support for Hong Kong protesters. The league was removed from CCTV for more than a year. NBA preseason games did not return to China until last year. Commissioner Adam Silver said that split cost the league hundreds of millions of dollars.

Debby Chan, a lecturer at Australian National University, described both the NBA case and the current Mbappe situation as examples of China's consumer nationalism. She explained that online sentiment and state media can combine to create a spiral of outrage. This dynamic often drives rapid commercial shifts in response to diplomatic or cultural friction.

Spanish football has substantial financial exposure to the region. A La Liga source told AFP that China and the United States fund the majority of the league's international broadcasting rights. Marca, a newspaper affiliated with Real Madrid, reports that the club earns 10 to 15 percent of its jersey and other merchandise sales in China. Prominent Chinese sponsors for the club include Hisense, Kaiyun Sports, and Linglong Tire.

Adam Zhang, founder of Beijing-based Key-Solution Sports Consulting, said that quick and heartfelt remorse was a necessary first step. He indicated that this response would influence whether the broadcast ban continues and for how long. The speed and sincerity of the apology are now central factors in determining the duration of the commercial pause.

Yan questioned whether Mbappe can fully regain his standing in the market. His face has appeared on drink bottles and in advertising campaigns across China. He pointed to the player's commercial presence during the World Cup as evidence of his huge influence. If that influence cannot be sustained, La Liga and Real Madrid will be badly affected.

Yan called the outlook genuinely hard to predict. He stated he was not optimistic in the short term. He added that future actions and behavior by the player and the club will be key to repairing the relationship with Chinese audiences and partners.