It was all about numbers as European giants Real Madrid crushed a Chinese football team 4-0 in front of 65,000 frenzied fans on Saturday.

And in a business sense, there was more than one winner.

For Real, their China stop got the ball rolling nicely for their four-country Asian promotional tour.

The club pulled in 2 million euros (US$2.2 million) for the 90-minute hit-out in Beijing and another 700,000 euros (US$77,000) during their week-long high-altitude training session in Kunming, in Southwest China's Yunnan Province.

The appearance fee is even heftier than World Cup champion Brazil, who pocketed US$1.3 million for a match in China earlier this year.

For domestic companies, they either built up their brands by sponsoring the Spanish club's training and the match, or directly cashing in on the fans' mania over Real.

Still, domestic companies have come in for some criticism for accepting Real Madrid's demands too readily. Media reports have also attacked domestic backers, such as tobacco maker Yunnan Hongta Group, by calling the sponsorship "unworthy.''

But in anyone's language, Beijing Great Gate Sport Culture, the domestic organizer of the trip, seems to be one of the biggest winners.

The company, which gambled all of its assets on the event, is said to have racked up at least 20 million yuan (US$2.4 million) in ticket sales alone -- then there is the advertising and television broadcast revenue.

Real's headline players Zinedine Zidane, Raul, Ronaldo, Luis Figo and David Beckham successfully fanned China's sporting enthusiasm in the wake of the suffocating SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) outbreak.

Even the most expensive seats reserved for those who were prepared to pay 2,000 yuan (US$240) each -- equivalent to the average monthly salary of a Beijinger -- were sold out.

"The programme was sensational and it will not be repeated in the near future,'' said a sales manager from Great Gate.

Both Great Gate and Real are cashing in on China's fast-growing sports sector. With the improvement of living standards, more and more Chinese are willing to pay to go and watch international events such as formula one motor racing, tennis tournaments and football matches.

"The potential for the sports industry is enormous,'' said Wang Qi, general manager of the China Sports Advertising Corp. "It is really taking off.''

Not wanting to label Real's Asian outing as a commercial exercise, the Spanish side's Chairman Florentino Perez admitted that he was astonished by the Chinese reaction to his team.

Perez told reporters on Saturday that the club is negotiating with Chinese companies to sell Real Madrid shirts locally, as part of its business development plan.

But there were also others who have managed to cash in on the Real bandwagon.

Beijing Hotel, where the players stayed in the city, used the chance to rescue business from the clutches of SARS, which had struck it hard.

The hotel is likely to earn more than 2 million yuan (US$240,000) for putting the team up for a couple of days. But more profits came from football fans who booked almost all of the rooms in the hotel.

Even telecom companies were among those making money. They sold news about Real Madrid to subscribers via short messaging services.

For sponsors, they basically got media saturation -- though some say they paid too much for such a short-lived promotion.

Hongta Group, China's largest tobacco maker, paid 10 million yuan (US$1.2 million) to get Real to come to the Kunming training base and for the naming rights to the weekend match. The company hopes the move will boost its declining revenue.

Jianlibao Group, the famous domestic soft drink company, invested 3 million yuan (US$360,000) in sponsorship.

Foreign sponsors also used the opportunity to try and make their mark.

German auto maker Audi, for instance, attracted plenty of attention when it invited Raul and Figo to sign posters for owners of Audi sedans.

The promotion came to a climax when Figo was given a US$60,000 Chinese-made Audi A4 after being judged best afield during Saturday's match.

(China Daily August 4, 2003)