The NBA Golden State Warriors are "starting to rival the sports world's best-known franchises," and if the team can "maintain their upbeat, multicultural brand ... they will tap into a global pool of loyal fans," according to Benny Evangelista of the SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE. This season, the team will "sport the name" of a corporate sponsor of Barcelona -- Japanese technology firm Rakuten -- on its uniforms. It is a "stamp of credibility" because Barcelona is the only other team Rakuten is sponsoring outside of Japan, and it puts Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant "in a league" with Barcelona's Lionel Messi. The Warriors have a fan club of "about 100 members" in Seoul who all "don team gear and gather at a local pub to watch games." The Warriors are also "huge in the Philippines, home to Asia's oldest pro basketball league." Warriors CMO Chip Bowers said that about 44% of the team's 11 million Facebook followers "are in the Philippines, the most from any one country." He added that the team would "announce a partnership with the Philippines in a couple of months" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 10/9).
CURRY IS SERVED: In S.F., Connor Letourneau wrote because Curry has "spent much of the past half-decade working to build his fan base in the NBA’s biggest international market," his 40-point performance during an exhibition game in Shanghai was "only more memorable." Each of the past four years, Curry has "visited China for promotional tours with Under Armour." He has "run basketball clinics" and "signed numerous autographs." Periodically, Curry has "hosted a 45-minute Weibo chat with his Chinese fans." His advertising work has included "spots with Chinese cell phone company Vivo and Chinese car company eHi" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 10/9).
TIGHT SCHEDULE: In San Jose, Calif., Mark Medina reported the Warriors were in China last week as part of the NBA Global Games initiative, but with the preseason schedule shortened by about two weeks this year, the team "lamented how that complicated travel, practices times and promotional events even more." NBA Commissioner Adam Silver conceded that there were "challenges" the Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves "faced during a week-long trip." Silver said, "It’s asking a lot of the players and teams. We recognize that. They try to get a lot done in a preseason. ... It’s a balance in terms of expanding the league and finding new fans and also ensuring that our players are in game shape once the season starts" (MERCURY NEWS, 10/9).
