At the beginning of the 21st century, baseball in mainland China was in a "marginal state". There were less than 1,000 registered baseball players in the country, and there were only three professional stadiums. Baseball events were rarely reported by mainstream media, and public awareness remained at the level of a "niche foreign sport". Major League Baseball (MLB) was facing a saturated local market and set its sights on China, which has a huge population base, and planned to open new markets through event promotion and youth training support.
