During the 2026 China Baseball City League (CPB) Summer Solstice League, a total of 782 tournament-related personnel operated across the Shanghai and Shenzhen divisions, with women accounting for 379 workers, or 48.5 percent of the total workforce. Across both regions, cumulative attendance reached 24,665 spectators, where female fans made up roughly 48.1 percent overall and 51.2 percent in the Shenzhen division.
Behind the Rain at Xishi Baseball Park
Late September brought heavy rainfall to the Xishi Baseball Park in Shanghai, yet the CPB Girls remained on the auxiliary cheering platform in raincoats to rally the crowd. The league featured 20 CPB Girls. The 12 members in Shanghai hailed from I DANCE, a troupe with extensive experience performing at Shanghai Jojob Basketball Club and other professional sports events, while the eight Shenzhen members came from Ashine Professional Cheerleading.
Cheerleaders faced an unfamiliar temporal structure compared to basketball. While basketball routines fit into structured pauses and timeouts, baseball games ran three to four hours without strict clocks. Consecutive offensive plays occasionally forced performers to execute routines and chants continuously for nearly half an hour. Dancers adapted by shifting from complex, high-precision choreography to simpler, interactive motions designed to let first-time spectators follow along immediately.
Voices on the Stand and in the Booth
Leadership on the stands extended beyond the official dance teams. Chu served as a cheering leader for the Beijing Zhengda Dragons after recovering from a comminuted tibia and fibula fracture sustained earlier in the spring. Having previously worked in control room operations during the league’s Spring Equinox tournament, she transitioned to the stands, utilizing her background in theatre and softball to coordinate crowd reactions with the stadium DJ.
In the broadcast booth, Cheng called 24 games across both divisions. Restricted largely to monitor views from a pitch-side position, she navigated the challenge of explaining complex rules—such as force plays, tag plays, and sacrifice bunts—to a domestic audience encountering baseball for the first time. Over the course of the tournament, commentators noted that digital chat rooms evolved from basic rule inquiries to active peer-to-peer discussions of tactics.
Operations and Budget Realities in League Marketing
Brand marketing head Rui joined the CPB prior to the Spring Equinox tournament, helping organize league operations alongside a small team of trusted colleagues. Operating under tight budget constraints, the organization bypassed high-cost entertainment celebrity opening ceremonies—which carried heavy appearance and security fees—in favor of cross-sport collaborations with regional basketball and football club mascots.
Event logistics relied heavily on female staffing, with women occupying key roles in data management, scoreboard operation via the central control unit, and game-day scheduling execution. Official league metrics indicated that among 52 sports presentation and performance staff members, 32 were women, while street-level and part-time operational roles included 245 women out of 328 personnel.
New Audiences Transforming the Stands
Female spectators like Wufeng attended games in large numbers, with total ticket purchases reaching 19 matches during the Summer Solstice slate after discovering the venue near her home in Shanghai. Exposure to post-game fan discussions inspired her to join a beginner baseball club and organize fan-made wristbands for the Shanghai Orcas.
Merchandise operations managed by Iris reflected a balanced consumer base, noting an even split in retail traffic between male and female shoppers despite high demand for Snoopy collaboration items. Meanwhile, spectator Wei pursued a systematic study of baseball rules after braving severe weather during her first ballpark visit, ultimately following the Shanghai Orcas through to the championship series.
Related reading
