Culture

NBA China

By Sean Nelson

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When the Houston Rockets chose Yao Ming (姚明, Yáo Míng) in the 2002 NBA draft, the pressure was on him to perform. Not only was he the most widely-known Chinese player worldwide at that point, he was also the top draft pick that year. Since then, he has charmed, entertained and impressed audiences worldwide, been a staple of the National Basketball Association's annual All-Star Game, seen the release of a movie about his life and made several memorable commercials in both English and Chinese. In addition, he has been one of the few professional athletes to grace the covers of academic and professional journals, such as Foreign Policy. During my first trip to China in 2005, I was often asked if Yao is popular in the US. I was happy to answer that everyone, even if they were not Houston Rockets or basketball fans, liked Yao for both his skill and his off-court demeanor. As a result of his accomplishments, he may have caused massive permanent changes in the business side of basketball worldwide.

Perhaps the greatest evidence of how much Yao has changed the business side of basketball came just this month as the NBA has released the names of several of the investors in the potential new NBA China league. NBA China is set to take care of the NBA's business interests in the Chinese-speaking world (except for Singapore). The NBA retains 89% ownership of NBA China, while the other 11% is owned by both Chinese and American investors. According to Reuters and the Wall Street Journal, these investors include ESPN (which is owned by Disney), Bank of China Group Investment Ltd., Legend Holdings Ltd. (the Lenovo Group Ltd.'s parent company) and China Merchants Investments. In addition, a firm owned by Asia's richest man, Hong Kong's Li Ka-Shing, called the Li Ka-Shing Foundation, is also an investor. Tim Chen will be the CEO of NBA China. He is most famous for his previous position as chief executive of Microsoft Greater China. Corporate governance will be in the hands of a board of directors made up of NBA commissioner David Stern, team owners and other executives. NBA China is estimated to be worth a total of US$2.3 billion.

Since the NBA first opened an office in Hong Kong in 1992, it has held games in Beijing, Shanghai and Macao, thus becoming the first American sports league to do so. This puts the National Football League to shame. Earlier in the year the NFL was set to hold games in China, but cancelled the games to shift the focus to the league's European ventures and games, which saw poor attendance. In part, this may have to do with basketball’s greater international orientation. While there are a few international American football players in the NFL, the vast majority are Americans who played for their college football teams in the US before moving onto the NFL. Meanwhile, a growing number of NBA stars come from all over the world. Besides Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian has also started a career in the NBA playing for the Milwaukee Bucks and is a contender for Rookie of the Year honors. Some more examples include the Argentinean star Manu Ginóbili of the San Antonio Spurs, his Belgian teammate Tony Parker and Canadian Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns, among other players. Even one of the top American players, Tim Duncan, grew up in the US Virgin Islands, not the continental US. The number of people who play basketball in China is believed to be around 300 million, which is approximately the same as the total American population. Yao's successful career has contributed to the greater popularity of basketball among the Chinese population, especially with the youth.

If everything goes according to plan, NBA China could start putting together a new Chinese league and creating teams after the Olympics this year. For purely selfish reasons, I look forward to these developments in the hope that this will lead to either American basketball teams playing games in China or to have more American games broadcast in China. My hometown, Boston, is experiencing the best sports seasons of its history at the same time that I moved here to Beijing. The Boston Red Sox won baseball's World Series, the New England Patriots are two games away from potentially playing only the second perfect season in NFL history and the Boston Celtics are the most dominant team in the NBA this season. My parents were lucky enough recently to see a Celtics vs. Rockets game in Boston recently and e-mailed me to say how much they enjoyed seeing Yao Ming play. A Chinese television commercial featuring Yi Jianlian wearing a Celtics jersey instead of his Bucks shirt made me wish he was drafted by the Celtics, if for no other reason than to be able to see Celtics games on the TV in China.

Now that I have admitted to some ulterior motives, I am now free to point out some further benefits of this undertaking. The NBA can use its vast supply of resources and expertise to help develop China's domestic talent. If done correctly, creating new teams in several cities can also help out the local economies by providing jobs and a demand for various products associated with sporting events, such as food, that can be fulfilled locally. In addition, since the NBA will need to maintain a good reputation in China as it becomes more visible, this will probably force it to devote greater resources towards helping Chinese people in need and help out local communities, much as sports leagues in the US have done for years to cultivate a positive reputation. Chinese basketball players will also have a better chance of experiencing worldwide fame while still being able to stay in China to play basketball if they wish to do so instead of having to go to the US.

It will be interesting to see how the Olympics affect Chen's, Stern's and other board members' decisions regarding the future of NBA China. Additionally, as a venture into the Chinese market with both American and Chinese investors, it will also be fascinating to observe how much the American NBA officials learn from their Chinese counterparts and adapt to local market conditions. Meanwhile, I will be waiting for the next Rockets vs. Celtics game to play on CCTV.

Vocabulary:
Basketball: 篮球 lán qiú
NBA: NBA
Yi Jianlian: 易建联 yì jiàn lián
Houston Rockets: 休斯敦火箭队 xiū sī dūn huǒ jiàn duì
Milwaukee Bucks: 雄鹿队 xióng lù duì

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