The Hainan quiz business and FIFPro IP will spur profitability for 2021

HONG KONG, Jan. 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- V1 Group Limited, ("V1 Group" or the "Company", together with its subsidiaries, the "Group"; stock code: 00082.HK) is pleased to announce today its Crazy Sports unit would report net profit in excess of RMB63 million for the year ended 31 December 2020 based on its unaudited management accounts. This is the minimum profit level guaranteed by the vendors of Crazy Sports in 2018 when V1 Group acquired 100% interest in Crazy Sports.

This encouraging accomplishment is attributable to the remarkable progress Crazy Sports had made in building itself into a leading sports lottery and entertainment services provider in China. The paid sports lottery information services of Crazy Sports ranked first in China in terms of revenue in 2019, according to the CNInsights report¹. Crazy Sports had since expanded the sales channels of Crazy Red Insights to 24 media platforms with high user traffic in 2020.  Besides, Crazy Sports signed engagements with 18 renowned convenience stores chain in China and plan to launch no fewer than 20,000 retail sports lottery sales points to provide sports lottery sales services.

Heading into 2021 with a strong note, Crazy Sports, through its subsidiaries, announced that it has secured approval from relevant authorities in Hainan Province to launch a "sports tournament platform and reward points system" project allowing establishment on the island of a blockchain technology-driven sports tournament platform that integrates e-sports and sports tournament information, winning-odds prediction, live broadcasts and sports community on an amalgamed entertainment launchpad.

This is fuelling the growth momentum with the launch of a "UEFA Euro" strategy by Crazy Sports, substantiated by its signing of an agreement with the international sports organization - Fédération International de Footballeurs Professionels (FIFPro) to officially secure the FIFPro intellectual property right authorization for 2021-2023, including names and portrait rights of 54 national teams or football league players around the world, including England, France, Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands, names and portrait rights of many world-renowned superstars

Following the restructuring of the Group as announced on 7 December 2020, Crazy Sports has become the core business of the Group with positioning as the first internet sports concept stock for China. The Group is proposed to be renamed into "Crazy Sports Group".  

Through its unique online and offline sports community and lottery e-commerce ecosystem, users can engage in sports lottery and entertainment activities in many ways, including obtaining professional analyses, predictions, tips, odds and match updates relating to football and basketball games, watching live matches with anchors, anchor performance and socializing, engaging in a variety of sports related mobile games, and purchasing sports lottery tickets through retail channels in the neighbourhood. Crazy Sports focuses on building innovative product offerings and services that are highly complementary in the ecosystem, thereby enhance users experience, engagement and retention.

Commenting on these accomplishments, V1 Group CEO Peng Xitao said "Crazy Sports has been diving really deep into preferences of users and investing appropriately in research and development of our entertainment infrastructure, event and character IP authorizations to elevate user engagement to the next level. We are confident that these will help power business growth in this year of major events such as UEFA Euro 2021. The accomplishment of the three-year minimum profit guarantee has established a firm footing in taking Crazy Sports closer to its goal of becoming the largest digital sports entertainment group in China, an excellent point of accessing the country's RMB trillion-worth of sports entertainment market."

Dr. Zhang Lijun, Chairman of V1 Group, added: "The reorganization of V1 Group has successfully slimmed up our structure, paving our way for exponential growth. After being designated as the Group's principal business, Crazy Sports is set to deliver exceptionally strong profitability, leveraging the huge market size of the sports industry, our efforts in rolling out quiz sports games in Hainan, securing global football sports IP of FIFPro internationally-renowned players and China Super League and data accumulation in our sports lottery entertainment community."

¹ Source: "China Sports Lottery and Entertainment Services Industry Report" published in November 2020 by China Insights Consultancy (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.  

-          End    -

About V1 Group

V1 Group is a top-100 internet enterprise in China and a leading sports lottery and entertainment service provider in China. The Group, through Crazy Sports, operates (i) Crazy Red Insights APP, a paid sports lottery information services platform, (ii) Crazy Sports APP, a match information, live-streaming and social interactive platform; (iii) online mobile interactive game applications, and (iv) a new strategy in the provision of sales services of lottery tickets through nationwide retail channels in China. Guided by sports marketisation, connectivity and digitalisation, we are dedicated to forge a comprehensive culture and sports ecosystem to provide reliable sports products and services for the vast Chinese sports enthusiasts.