NBA Inks Strategic Marketing Deal With Tsingtao Brewery

NBA Commissioner David Stern and China-based Tsingtao Brewery Chair Jin Zhiguo Saturday announced a “multiyear strategic marketing partnership set to feature TV and online campaigns aimed at growing China’s audience for basketball,” according to Jonathan Landreth of the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. NBA China CEO Tim Chen said that Tsingtao, China’s most widely distributed domestic beer, will “sponsor the NBA’s television and Web presence in China as part of the partnership, but he declined to offer details.” Stern said that Tsingtao “would not be the NBA’s exclusive partner in China, where it has 21 other marketing and promotional partnerships.” Tsingtao President of Sales & Marketing Yan Xu said, “We look forward to getting more big stars like [Rockets C] Yao Ming and [Nets F] Yi Jianlian from this partnership” (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 8/23). Meanwhile, the NBA "could be interested in a deal with the state-run Chinese Basketball Association to improve the level of play, sponsorship deals, marketing and even hosting NBA pre-season games in China." Stern: "We are discussing potentially how the league will look, but there is no timetable or urgency to that" (REUTERS, 8/23).