Sponsors line up for entry into booming 'Suchao' soccer league

The main stadium of the Nanjing Olympic Sports Center can accommodate 62,000 people, and tickets for the match were sold out almost instantaneously. The two teams drew 0-0.

Official attendance at the game was 60,396 spectators, a new record for the attendance of an amateur soccer event in China.

While its team languishes at the bottom of the league with zero goals in its first five matches, Changzhou has executed a master class in converting sporting losses into economic wins.

The city's self-deprecating wit — a hallmark of the Suchao phenomenon — is now driving unprecedented "football plus culture & tourism plus consumption" integration across the province.

The Tianmu Lake Scenic Area in Changzhou launched a "bald-headed free ticket" promotion, which has no gender or age restrictions and only requires the recipient to have no hair. In Chinese, zero points is referred to as having one's head shaved clean.

From June 22 to the end of August, bald people can enjoy free entry to the area's mountain and water gardens and the South Mountain Bamboo Sea.

On July 2, Jiangsu Yancheng Safari Park officially announced a name change to "Changzhou Yingqiu Wildlife World". In Chinese, "yingqiu" means a winning goal.

The zoo manager, surnamed Xu, explained that although Changzhou has yet to win a match, their fans are eager to see the team score and win.

In the sixth round on Sunday, Changzhou, true to form, drew 0-0 away against Huai'an.