The NBA in China is "one bastion of American capitalism and culture that no one is shy about supporting," and during this year's NBA Global Games, the country’s "insatiable appetite for American basketball was on display," according to Becky Davis of the N.Y. TIMES. The annual series of preseason games "are greeted in China as the sports equivalent of the Academy Awards." The NBA "averages five million viewers a game in China for its television broadcasts, three million more than for its cable broadcasts" in the U.S. last year. The league "has 80 million followers on its Chinese social media accounts, making it the country’s most popular sports league by that measure." With "preseason pilgrimages" like the one the Nets and Kings last week took to Shanghai and Beijing, the league "hopes to cultivate new audiences and cash in on its growing Chinese fan base." Nets CEO Brett Yormark: "For anyone that wants to go global, you have to be relevant in China." He said that the team was "was close to developing three or four other major partnerships with Chinese companies" (NYTIMES.com, 10/16).
GRASS ROOTS: NBA China today announced a multiyear partnership with the country's Ministry of Education to incorporate a fitness and basketball development curriculum in elementary, middle and high schools. This marks the NBA’s first-ever collaboration with China’s education authority, as well as and the Ministry of Education’s first partnership with a U.S. pro sports league. As part of the curriculum, current and former NBAers and coaches will visit Chinese schools to conduct basketball clinics and provide specialized instruction to Chinese coaches and physical education teachers (NBA).
