Alibaba Group has signed a two-year extension through '20 for its partnership to support the annual Pac-12 China Game in Shanghai, which this year featured Georgia Tech-UCLA. Alibaba will provide support in sponsorship, ticketing, advertising and marketing, as well as broadcast production and distribution rights in mainland China (Pac-12). The Pac-12 announced next year's game "would be a matchup" between Cal and Yale. Meanwhile, the Ball family is "being filmed while in China for the Facebook reality show 'Ball in the Family.'" The family is "scheduled to leave Sunday morning for Hong Kong, where the family's Big Baller Brand is opening a pop-up shop on Tuesday" (ESPN.com, 11/11).
Meanwhile, sources said that the three UCLA men's basketball players arrested on shoplifting charges Tuesday -- including LiAngelo Ball -- will "remain in Hangzhou, China, and are not with the team on its flight" back to L.A. (ESPN.com, 11/11). Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said of the incident, "It’s certainly very unfortunate and very disappointing to me as commissioner of the conference, when we’re guests in another country, guests of our partners, that any of our students should be involved in this incident" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 11/11).
