Titan Sports () is a Chinese sports newspaper, operated by the

Titan Sports Media Group Titan Sports Media Group () is one of the most influential sports media groups in China. It owns the newspaper ''Titan Sports (newspaper), Titan Sports'' and ten other magazines. Name When it was founded as a sports newspaper, the Chinese name ...

. It is the most circulated sports newspaper in China.

History

1988-2000

''Titan Sports'' was founded in 1988 as a sports newspaper owned and operated by Hunan Sports General Association. On 3 December 1990, Titan Sports started a new column, "European Leagues Round-up", which meant that it became the first Chinese newspaper keeping track of European football. In May 1992, ''Titan Sports'' launched continuous coverage of the

1992 NBA Finals The 1992 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1991–92 NBA season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The defending NBA champion and Eastern Conference champion Chicago Bulls took on the Western Conference champion Portland ...

with its column "Up to date: The Final Chapter of NBA", as the first Chinese media outlet reporting

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

games in the form of continuous coverage. In 1994, ''Titan Sports'' started keeping track of Chinese domestic league

Jia A The National Football Jia A League (simplified Chinese, commonly known as Jia-A, was the highest tier of professional football in the People's Republic of China, during 1994 through 2003, operating under the auspices of the Chinese Football Associ ...

after its foundation. In the market competition of Chinese newspapers in the late 1990s, ''Titan Sports'' gradually exceeded other sports newspapers in China in circulation and in public influence. During the

Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug language, Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport ...

, its circulation surpassed 2 million per issue.

2001: World Cup qualifying

The 2002 World Cup qualifying rounds became the major focus of ''Titan Sports'' after the 2000 Summer Olympics, in 2001.

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

was attempting to qualify; that year average per issue circulation of ''Titan Sports'' was 1.6 million. On 7 October 2001, China defeated

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

1:0 in Shenyang to qualify for the

2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

, its first time qualifying for the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

. The issue of ''Titan Sports'' on 8 October 2001 had a record-breaking circulation of 2.6 million. It is still a record in the history of newspaper publication in China.

2001-2008

After the 2002 World Cup, the next major opportunity for ''Titan Sports'' was the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics. In order to prepare for reporting on the Olympics and to expand its market share and influence, ''Titan Sports'' opened a Beijing Bureau in 2005, as a second headquarters of Titan Sports Media Group apart from its original base in

Changsha Changsha (; ; ; Changshanese pronunciation: (), Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is the capital and the largest city of Hunan Province of China. Changsha is the 17th most populous city in China with a population of over 10 million, an ...

2008-present

During the Olympic year of 2008, ''Titan Sports'' developed its multi-media platforms in response to the changes in how Chinese people receive and read sports news. On 1 May 2008, three months before the opening of the Summer Olympics, ''titan24.com'' was built as the official website of ''Titan Sports''. In October 2015, Titan Sports Plus was created as the

mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...

of Titan Sports Media Group, via which articles from ''Titan Sports'' are also selectively published.

Partnership

Titan Sports is the first sports newspaper in China developing partnerships and cooperation overseas. It is now a partner of a number of well-known sports media outlets including ''

L'Équipe ''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby football, rugby, motorsport, and cycle sport, ...

'', ''

Sovetsky Sport , logo = SovSport.png , image = Sovetskiy Sport nameplate May 19 1988.png , caption = ''Soviet Sports'' nameplate on the May 19, 1988 issue , type = , format = , own ...

'', ''

La Gazzetta dello Sport ''La Gazzetta dello Sport'' (; "The Sports Gazette") is an Italian daily newspaper dedicated to coverage of various sports. Founded in 1896, it is the most widely read daily newspaper of any kind in Italy (in 2018). History and profile ''La ...

'', ''

Kicker Kicker or The Kicker may refer to: Sports * Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football * ''Kicker'' (sports magazine), in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the word used i ...

'' and ''

Marca Marca may refer to: Places * Marca, Sălaj, a commune in Sălaj County, Romania * Marca, a tributary of the Barcău in Sălaj County, Romania * an alternative name for Merca, Somalia * Marca District, in the province Recuay, Peru * Marçà, a vil ...

''.

Awards

In 2012, Titan Sports founded

Best Footballer in Asia Best Footballer in Asia () is an annual association football award organized and presented by Titan Sports. It is awarded to the player who had the best performance for Asian football during the previous calendar year. History Inspired by ...

, an annual prize presented to the best football player to have played for an Asian national football team or Asian football club during the preceding year. It has been presented since 2013, as the most influential football prize in Asia apart from the annual prizes awarded by AFC.

References

{{reflist Daily newspapers published in China 1988 establishments in China Companies based in Changsha Mass media in Changsha Sports mass media in China Sports newspapers Publications established in 1988