China News Service, Dalian, June 21 (Reporter Yang Yi) On the evening of the 20th, the third round of the 2026 Northeast City Football League ("Northeast Super League" for short) officially kicked off at the Dalian Barracuda Bay Football Stadium. A total of 62,826 fans attended the game, setting a new high for the "Northeast Super League".
From the land of Liaoning and Shenyang to the white mountains and black waters, from the grasslands outside the Great Wall to the coast of the Yellow Sea and the Bohai Sea, this folk football event covering the three provinces and one region of Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang and Inner Mongolia has received widespread attention and praise. "The Northeast is so beautiful, don't regret it!" has become a hot topic among netizens. Where is the "super" of the Northeastern Super League, which is frequently out of the league? The answer may lie in cross-border integration, event temperature and urban vitality.
On June 20, the third round of the 2026 Northeast City Football League ("Northeast Super League") was held at the Dalian Barracuda Bay Football Stadium. Photo by Yu Haiyang
The "super" of Northeast China lies in the transcendence of pattern.
As the country's first cross-provincial city football super league, the Northeast Super League breaks the regional barriers of traditional single-province and city competitions. It is jointly created by three provinces and one district of Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Inner Mongolia. It brings together eight powerful teams from Shenyang, Dalian, Changchun, Yanbian, Harbin, Jixi, Hohhot, and Tongliao to compete on the same field, creating a new pattern of regional linkage.
Revitalizing the Northeast is difficult to achieve by going alone. For a long time, the cultural and sports resources, cultural tourism formats, and sports forces of cities in Northeast China have been relatively scattered. The Northeast Super League, with the football sport loved by all the people as a link, has kicked away the geographical barriers and development barriers, gathered scattered resources into a joint force, and promoted the Northeast from "fighting individually" to "developing as a team", forming a strong consensus to jointly host the event and promote revitalization.
"Whoever wins, Liaoning wins, and whoever wins, Northeast China wins!" On the field, it is a passionate competition of athletes sweating; outside the field, it is the deep friendship between Northeastern families. This pure love has completely unleashed the sports enthusiasm of the people in the Northeast, forming a sports romance unique to the black land.
The third round of the Northeast Super League was held at Dalian Barracuda Bay Football Stadium. Photo by Yang Yi
The core of the "super" of the Northeastern Super League is integration and excellence.
This is not only a competitive event, but also a deep integration of "sports + cultural tourism + city promotion". Each stadium has become a window showing the regional characteristics, folk customs and urban charm of Northeast China.
The Dalian home stadium innovatively performs a rock version of "Ocean, My Hometown", integrating local intangible cultural heritage elements of Changhai trumpets and Fuzhou drum music to show the unique feelings of mountains and seas; the Shenyang arena performs special programs such as Northeastern duets, suona folk music, and Korean patriarchal drums in turn, presenting the diverse folk customs of the Northeast. At the same time, Northeastern literary and artistic celebrities, extras, fan representatives, and model teams performed on the same stage. Professional stage performances were deeply combined with public participation and interaction, breaking the boundaries between professional performances and mass culture.
Using football as a medium, culture to enrich games, and games to promote tourism, the "Northeast Super League" truly realizes the in-depth integration of sports events with regional culture and cultural tourism industry, realizing that a football game can activate a city and ignite an area.
62,826 people came to watch the game, breaking the attendance record of Dalian Barracuda Bay Football Stadium. Photo by Wang Han
The "super" in the Northeast is also the temperature exceeding the standard.
Since its unveiling on May 23, the Northeast Super League has quickly attracted national attention with its professional competition system and pure competitive atmosphere. The cumulative number of spectators at the four venues of the opening game exceeded 100,000, and the ticket winning rate for some games was less than 30%. "It is hard to get a ticket" has become the norm. Dalian's game that night set a new record for the home audience at Barracuda Bay Stadium.
The competition is hot, and the city’s sincerity and responsibility are even more heart-warming. In order to welcome Dalian’s first home game on June 20, Dalian has teamed up with Dandong and other six cities in Liaoning to launch a week-long all-area benefit activity. Fans participating in the four northeastern provinces and regions can visit 43 core internet celebrity scenic spots in seven cities for free; citizens in corresponding partner cities such as Shanghai, Jiangsu, Yantai, Nagqu, Tacheng and other places can visit high-quality attractions in seven cities in Liaoning for free with their ID cards without any threshold. Using the event as a medium to open the door to the Northeast and welcome guests from all over the world, this unreserved tolerance and enthusiasm are a reflection of the generous and sincere characteristics of Northeastern people.
One event brings excitement to a city and revitalizes a region. Currently, the Northeast Super League is in full swing. This sports event dedicated to the Northeast is continuing to activate new momentum for revitalization, making the new image of beautiful Liaoning and dynamic Northeast spread across the country and deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. (over)
