Fosun are not being viewed in the greatest of lights at Wolves at the moment due to the work they have been doing on the football side of things, but they have now made a completely avoidable error in another part of their business model.
When the Chinese ownership took over the club, they wanted to create more revenue streams that would allow the club to compete at the highest level of English football.
This meant branching out the Wolves logo to areas such as merchandise and esports, which in turn created visibility for the football brand, and all of that makes sense.
In the end the goal was for Fosun to generate enough money that could sustain the Old Gold in the Premier League, but that has not gone to plan this season.
The summer window was a disaster, despite what the executives like Jeff Shi say, and that has left Wolves staring down the barrel of relegation.
Fans have blasted the current quality in the squad, and the signings have not been good enough to replace those that were sold.
Jeff Shi on Wolves’ summer transfer window business
However, their latest signing on the esports side of their business may be their worst yet.
Fosun put the name of Wolves’ rivals on the kit for their esports team
In perhaps the least shocking of reveals, Fosun have shown themselves to be completely out of touch with the Wolves fanbase.
On the kit for Wolves Esports, “West Bromwich” appears front and centre. It is part of a sponsorship deal with Sandwell College based in the West Bromwich area.
While the esports team is a separate entity from the football club, the two are tied, and both use the logo and branding that represent the Old Gold faithful that go to each and every match.
Can you see Fosun selling Wolves in the event of relegation?
The sheer concept of even any small correlation with their biggest rivals will be enough for any Wolves fans to feel a shiver down their spine over this move.
Putting West Bromwich on anything that represents the Wanderers should never happen, and it shows that the ownership simply do not care about the sentiments of their fans.
The influx of cash from this sponsorship is apparently worth more than what supporters feel and how they think.
Imagine if Arsenal had the word ‘Tottenham’ on their kit. It is a footballing sin, but at this stage, is anyone really surprised with Fosun?
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Fosun do not care enough about Wolves fans
This was a completely avoidable error, and if anyone who understands the feelings among fans was in the room when this decision was made, it could have been prevented.
Anybody who had any knowledge of football would have stopped this from happening.
However, since it got the go-ahead, you have to assume that Fosun were unaware of the issue that this would cause, and that in itself is a big problem.
Fans have been calling for Fosun to sell up for quite some time, and it is clear they are taking no steps in trying to amend that relationship.
Even if they started to do so now, it would be too little, too late.