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Treading Fine Line, NBA Money Machine Kicks Into Gear on China Return
The NBA resumed preseason games and formed new partnerships with the Chinese Basketball Association after a six-year absence caused by political tensions.
- On Friday, the National Basketball Association staged a preseason game in the Venetian Arena in Macao, marking its first China game since Oct. 12, 2019.
- Daryl Morey’s tweet in 2019 sparked Beijing to pull broadcasts and sponsors, effectively freezing the National Basketball Association out of China for six years.
- Fans and celebrities turned out as former NBA great Yao Ming, David Beckham, Jackie Chan and Jack Ma attended while Devin Booker played at the NBA House at the Venetian.
- New partnerships and sponsorships indicate Beijing may have forgiven past disputes, while teams seek to reclaim revenues from the 300 million people involved in basketball, the NBA estimates.
- A sports marketer warned that online outrage can ignite within minutes, making it `impossible` to avoid incidents like the Morey episode, as China retains leverage over the NBA, experts say.
66 Articles
66 Articles
InsideNoVA.com
Treading fine line, NBA money machine kicks into gear on China return
The NBA brought star-studded lineups to Macau this week for the league's return to China after six years but many of the biggest wins happened off the basketball court, industry insiders and experts told AFP.
The NBA is making its comeback as the biggest U.S. soft power in China
It’s been a six-year-long wait for Yun Hui, who arrived in the Chinese gambling hub to watch the Phoenix Suns take on the Brooklyn Nets on Friday, as the NBA returned to China after a political firestorm that saw it effectively banned from one of its most lucrative markets. “Every time we turn on the TV and we don’t see NBA games, it’s kind of sad,” Beijing-based Yun told NBC News, wearing the jersey of his favorite player, Brooklyn Nets’ Zeng F…
The NBA makes a splash on return to China. Now, it has to stay out of foul trouble
By Chris Lau, Fred He, Ivan Watson, CNN Hong Kong (CNN) — As soon as he learned the NBA was returning to China, diehard fan Buke Liu scrambled to get his hands on tickets, paying almost a thousand dollars – a price you might expect for an NBA Finals game – for a ticket to a preseason match-up. One of America’s most successful sporting exports, the NBA is hugely popular in China, and a rare cultural touchpoint between two nations increasingly see…
In Video: The NBA makes a comeback in China 6 years after a tweet set off a political firestorm
NBA’s Global Reach on Full Display in Macau As the basketball season approaches, the National Basketball Association (NBA) is gearing up for a new chapter in its relationship with a huge market: China. A six-year absence from the country has finally come to an end as they kickstart their preseason with games being held thousands of miles from home in Macau, a popular tourist and casino resort in China. A Star-Studded Lineup in Macau Aksadena fan…
Six years after the Hong Kong rift, the NBA is returning to the Asian market with the Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns in a reconciliation that combines politics, business and spectacle.
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