Who's afraid of the Jiangsu Football League becoming professional

The inaugural Jiangsu Provincial City Super Football League, "Su Chao," achieved tremendous success in 2025, becoming a phenomenal sports and cultural event. It ignited nationwide enthusiasm: The entire season saw over 2.43 million live spectators, averaging approximately 28,600 per match, setting a national record for amateur league attendance. Online attention was equally impressive, with over 2.2 billion live stream views and over 81.8 billion views on related topics across the internet. It reshaped urban cultural ties: The league, centered on "universal participation + city honor," saw all 13 prefecture-level cities in Jiangsu Province form teams representing their cities. The event greatly boosted citizens' sense of hometown pride, with various regionally distinctive "city memes" going viral online, showcasing the unique cohesion of the "fragmented Jiangsu." The finals, held at the Nanjing Olympic Sports Center, attracted 62,329 spectators. The Provincial Party Secretary and Governor personally presented awards to the champions and runners-up, demonstrating the high level of importance placed on the event. Becoming an economic "traffic driver": The event successfully converted online traffic into offline consumption, creating a leverage effect where "a 1 yuan ticket could generate 7.3 yuan in peripheral spending." "Following the Jiangsu Super League to tour Jiangsu" became a popular trend, driving 38 billion yuan in consumption across multiple scenarios throughout the province. Its successful model has also inspired many other regions across the country to follow suit, giving rise to provincial leagues such as the "Guangdong Super League" and the "Shandong Super League."