Anta Sports, the “Nike of China,” posted growth across all its business operations in 2021 in the company’s latest earnings report. 

The Chinese sportswear company generated $7.7 billion in revenue in FY2021, a 39% increase compared to the financial year prior, thanks to strong results in its Anta and FILA segments. 

• In FY2021, the company’s Anta segment posted $3.7 billion in revenue, up 52% year-over-year.
• Its FILA segment generated $3.4 billion in revenue in 2021, a 25% uptick compared to FY2020.
• All other Anta Sports brands posted revenue of $548 million in FY2021, up 51% year-over-year.
• Shares of the company were up more than 5% on Tuesday following the report. 

Anta is gaining momentum in its home country, while brands like Adidas and Nike have taken a hit in the world’s largest fashion market. Anta has benefited from a partial boycott of Western brands in China after some raised questions about forced labor in the country’s Xinjiang region. 

Nike saw its revenue in the Greater China region reach $2.2 billion in fiscal Q3, a 5% decline compared to the same period the year prior. In Q4 2021, Adidas reported a 24% drop in revenue in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

New Line of Business 

Anta is leveraging its popularity in China to launch a FILA-branded hotel in Shanghai. Designed in collaboration with Hyatt Hotels, it is expected to open in 2024 and will be part of Anta’s new Shanghai headquarters, which includes office buildings, shops, and dining outlets.

Lawmakers in York County, South Carolina, passed an “alternative financial package” on Monday in an effort to resume work on the Carolina Panthers’ new $800 million facility project.

Construction on the venue was put on hold earlier this month reportedly due to Rock Hill, South Carolina, being behind on its bills to Tepper Sports and Entertainment. News 19 WLTX 19 said the city owed $225 million in infrastructure loans.

In a 4-3 vote, the City Council agreed to a “Fee in Lieu of Tax and Incentive,” in which the county will help with the project’s financing through revenue credits. The team would then pay those back with tax credits. 

• The Panthers still have to agree to the transaction but were involved in the deal’s discussions.
• A real estate company run by Panthers owner Dave Tepper has reportedly invested more than $170 million in the project.

“It’s straight-now credit,” councilman William Bump Roddey said. Previously, the City of Rock Hill would have issued $225 million in bonds. 

What’s At Stake

The project, which includes the team’s headquarters and a new practice facility, was originally supposed to open in August 2022 but was stalled until 2023 due to the pandemic. It’s now unclear when the project will open or construction will continue.

Ahead of the city council’s vote, a source with knowledge of the city’s thinking told Front Office Sports that the back-and-forth between the entities put the development’s completion in potential jeopardy.

During last year’s NCAA Division I basketball tournaments, the National College Players Association launched a campaign advocating for NIL rights. This year, they’re making a push to get schools to pay their players beyond scholarships.

On Tuesday, the NCPA filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, alleging Division I schools’ athlete compensation limits violate Black students’ civil rights. It asks to abolish these caps.

The complaint, reviewed by Front Office Sports, argues that Black FBS football and Division I basketball players in particular receive far less than their market value. “Because a high percentage of Black students are also college athletes,” the NCPA said, “the industry-wide compensation limit causes a disparate impact on Black college students.”

The complaint estimates an athlete is denied the following amount every year:

• Division I women’s basketball player — $24,000.
• Division I men’s basketball player — $164,000. 
• FBS football player — $185,000.

Another 2021 study found that between 2005-19, Black Power 5 football and basketball players could have made $17.3 billion.

Multiple Avenues

There are currently several other efforts to help athletes get salaries.

As part of a larger campaign, the NCPA previously filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board to get athletes collective bargaining rights — the second of its kind in the past year.

The Third Circuit is also considering whether athletes are employees.