从咖啡啤酒到酒店商超，13家企业为何涌入WTT中国大满贯？Why did 13 companies flock to the WTT China Grand Slam, from coffee and beer to hotel supermarkets?

Reporter | Wang Ziwei, Bi Yuanyuan | Editor | Dong Xingsheng

The National Day Golden Week has not yet arrived, and Beijing Shougang Park has already begun to prepare for one of the most important sports events of the year.

From October 1st to 11th, the "WTT (World Table Tennis Professional League) China Grand Slam 2026" will be held at Shougang Park in Beijing. Wang Chuqin, Sun Yingsha and other key players of the Chinese table tennis team participated in the competition. After the event tickets were issued, it quickly attracted attention. The "Official Hospitality Experience PLUS" ticket, priced at 6588 yuan, even showed a shortage at one point.

The WTT China Grand Slam has been held twice before and is a top-level table tennis tournament organized by WTT, belonging to one of the highest levels of the WTT Grand Slam series. In 2024, the sponsorship revenue of the first event will reach 25 million yuan. This year, consumer brands began to appear in clusters on the list of sponsors.

On the consumer side, in the past two years, the passenger flow brought by this event has begun to extend to the stadium, Shougang Park, and surrounding commercial districts; This year's event organizers are also attempting to further redirect the viewing flow towards catering, retail, accommodation, and cultural tourism consumption through ticket discounts, consumption vouchers, themed buses, and other means.

How has this business grown step by step over the past three years, with increasingly high ticket prices and a constant influx of consumer brands?

The highest selling price of 6588 yuan still shows out of stock. Who is buying the high priced tickets for WTT?

As the operating platform of the International Table Tennis Federation to promote the professionalization and commercialization of events, WTT has been trying to transform table tennis from a competition system dominated by individual competitions to a professional tour that runs throughout the year. The full name of WTT is "World Table Tennis", founded by the International Table Tennis Federation in August 2019, responsible for operating commercial events under the International Table Tennis Federation. The WTT China Grand Slam is a top-level table tennis tournament organized by WTT.

On the morning of August 28th at 10 o'clock, the first round of ticket sales for this Grand Slam will be launched. The competition has not yet started, and ticket prices have already sparked discussions, with related topics briefly trending on Weibo.

According to official information, this year's tickets start at 88 yuan, with a wide price range between different venues, competition dates, and product types. Among them, the highest ticket price for the "Official Hospitality Experience PLUS" is 6588 yuan. Overall, the organizers still maintain a lower entry threshold with a ticket price of 88 yuan, and price increases are mainly concentrated in the latter half of the competition and high priced tickets. As the schedule enters the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals, the ticket prices for each individual match of the Eight Extremes gradually increase, with the highest price reaching 2088 yuan on the final day. The same day's matches will also have separate ticket sales. If you want to see the fans from day to night, you can purchase two separate games or choose a single day pass up to 4176 yuan.

Image source: Damai App

On September 4th, a reporter from the Daily Economic News found on the Damai platform that official hospitality experience products priced between 1288 yuan and 6588 yuan are currently showing "out of stock registration", while regular single event tickets and single day passes still have some sessions and ticket slots available for purchase.

Image source: Damai App

The reporter reviewed the ticket prices of the past three years and found that since the landing of the WTT China Grand Slam in Beijing, the highest ticket price for the final day has been raised twice in a row: 1688 yuan in 2024, 1888 yuan in 2025, and further increased to 2088 yuan this year. Over the course of two years, the cumulative price of this batch has increased by approximately 24%. The highest price of the A-level single day pass this year has also increased from 3776 yuan last year to 4176 yuan, an increase of about 10.6%.

Behind the high priced tickets is the difficulty in obtaining a single ticket brought by top athletes. This year, almost all the main players of the Chinese table tennis team participated, led by Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha, and famous players such as Lin Shidong and Wang Manyu all participated. For some fans, purchasing final tickets is not just about watching a table tennis game, but also about paying for their favorite athletes and experiencing major events.

Coffee, beer, and supermarkets are all here: what are sponsors buying?

On the consumer side, WTT China Grand Slam ticket prices have skyrocketed, making it difficult to find a single ticket; In the field of investment promotion, the sponsors attracted by the WTT China Grand Slam have also become diverse.

This year's WTT China Grand Slam has attracted a total of 13 sponsors. In addition to large enterprises such as Agricultural Bank of China, Xinhua Insurance, China Telecom, and Beijing Energy Group, consumer enterprises have also begun to emerge in clusters: Kudi Coffee, Yanjing Beer, Super Box Computing NB, Xilongduo, etc. have also been included in the list. It is worth noting that Kudi has become a partner of the WTT China Grand Slam for the second consecutive year.

Why do beer brands that are more compatible with football, as well as coffee and supermarket brands that were originally concentrated in the community, sponsor table tennis matches?

A head of a sports marketing consulting company told reporters that the audience for sports events is mainly young people. If a competition can gather a large number of young people in one scene, and these people are willing to stay for a few hours or even a whole day, then the competition is not only a media resource, but also an offline consumption entrance.

Photo source of Shougang Park: Photo by journalist Dong Tianyi

Not only that, the core tournament of this year's WTT Chinese Grand Slam also collided with the "National Day" Golden Week. This setup will also attract many consumers who come from other places to Beijing to watch the competition. In addition to entering the venue to watch the competition for two or three hours, they may also stay at Shougang Park for half a day or even a whole day, eating and shopping, making the consumption chain longer.

According to other data, during the 2025 competition period, the daily average passenger flow of Shougang Park reached 124000, with a cumulative consumption exceeding 41 million yuan; As the "second venue" of the tournament, the Grand Slam Park has attracted over 100000 visitors and exceeded a consumption of 10 million yuan, with licensed merchandise sales exceeding 3 million yuan. The Liugonghui commercial district, which is closest to the competition venue, saw a year-on-year increase of 57% in passenger flow during the long holiday period. The sales of WTT China Grand Slam ticket stubs and related package activities increased by 115% year-on-year.

In fact, the commercial value of the WTT China Grand Slam over the past two years has gradually become prominent. According to data released by relevant departments in Beijing, the total online exposure of WTT China Grand Slam in 2025 will reach 20.075 billion times, with 1.243 billion independent audiences and approximately 30000 joint event reports. Industry insiders told reporters that this means that the event has "broken through the circle" and has dissemination capabilities far beyond the on-site seating capacity.

This year's event organizers are also intentionally extending the consumption chain. It is reported that during this competition, Shijingshan District will open free table tennis themed buses, connecting the subway, food district, core business district, and competition venues; Ticket holders can enjoy ticket stub discounts at hundreds of merchants, along with dining and accommodation vouchers; Fans can also receive a taxi subsidy of up to 100 yuan.

The WTT China Grand Slam is shifting from highly anticipated sports events to urban consumption IPs. Whether it can ultimately form a stable IP depends on whether this consumption driven ability can be maintained for several consecutive years, rather than relying on a certain event, a few celebrity athletes, or a golden week.

Cover image source: Dong Tianyi

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