Few had more riding on yesterday’s USA-China game than AEG and the NBA.

The game, arguably the biggest basketball game in Chinese history, attracted a global audience of more than 1 billion viewers. Everyone who tuned in not only got their first glimpse of NBA stars LeBron James and Yao Ming going head-to-head for their respective countries, but also their first exposure to Beijing’s new basketball arena.

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Eager to capitalize on that attention were AEG and the NBA, which signed an agreement in January to market, program and operate the venue after the Olympics. During the game, the two hosted more than a dozen high-level executives from companies being targeted for naming rights, founding partnerships and suite sales.

“This is what we’ve been waiting for over the last seven months,” said Sam Piccione, AEG’s general manager of sales in Asia. “The next 17 days is our opportunity to show the world what this arena is and what it will become.”

The AEG sales team hopes to have a naming-rights partner within 35 days. It is approaching companies in the traditional categories of telecom, auto, finance, banking and apparel about naming rights and founding partnerships.

To date, AEG has met with the 100 top multinational companies and Chinese state-owned entities. It envisions selling five founding partnerships to multinational corporations and three to Chinese state-owned entities, said Piccione, who’s leading the effort on the ground in Beijing for AEG. He is collaborating with Managing Director of NBA China Mark Fischer and NBA Director of Strategic Business Development Martin Benson.

The naming-rights deal could be the first sold in China. AEG is seeking a multimillion-dollar, multiyear deal comparable to NBA arena naming-rights deals over the last five years. Recent NBA arena deals primarily have ranged between $2 million and $6 million a year. AEG most recently sold a naming-rights deal for the O2 Arena in Berlin for $37.5 million over 10 years, or $3.75 million a year.

Prices like that could be aggressive in a market where naming rights are unfamiliar and marquee venues don’t exist, but AEG is confident people will see the value and has spent the last seven months “educating the market,” Piccione said.

“There’s nothing like this for them to compare to, whether it’s them the consumer or them the advertiser,” he added. “This will be the first venue in all of China to be branded. There are no suites (anywhere else in China). They don’t understand all inclusive — ‘You mean I don’t have to buy another ticket?’ they ask. ‘Nope. You’re guaranteed your eight or 16 or 22 seats.’ ‘You mean parking’s included?’ ‘Yes.’

“Has it been the easiest sell?” Piccione said. “No. But it’s definitely possible.”

The venue is expected to host more than 70 live sports and entertainment events next year and more than 100 at maturity. Those events will include concerts with Asian and Western artists, family shows and sporting events, including NBA exhibition games and the China Basketball Association Championship.

AEG envisions more than 1.5 million attendees a year at maturity.

The naming-rights partner and founding partners will receive signature programs, advertising material, digital media, hospitality and signage. Because the arena is square, it has ample, unused space in the corners of its concourse, which AEG envisions turning into branded VIP and advertising areas for sponsors.

“We can create a satellite bar, put up an auto display, build out a telephone mobile section for branding and sampling,” Piccione said.

The arena has 47 suites with a mix of eight, 16 and 22 seats. The suites feature wooden bars, flat-screen TVs, simple chandeliers and couches. AEG has already sold 10 to a bank and entrepreneurs, which haven’t been made public.

There also are two restaurants in the building, which will be open to VIPs. AEG hopes to find a title partnership for one, which has a bar, a cigar lounge and five private dining rooms.

Following the Olympics, AEG and the NBA will undertake a renovation effort at the arena, which lacks many amenities that drive revenue in the U.S. Among the first things to be redesigned will be the concession stands.

When the arena was originally designed, there were no concession areas featured in the facility plans. Small areas were added in the concourse later at AEG’s request, but they’re basically alcoves where the Beijing Organizing Committee has set up folding tables to sell bottled drinks and already prepared food such as Ritz crackers, rice chips and hot dogs on a stick. After the Olympics, those areas will be turned into American-style concession stands, outfitted with power and equipment to cook food and serve cold fountain drinks.

“These types of venues don’t exist anywhere else (in China),” Piccione said. “We’ve been to other arenas and they don’t have heat, they don’t have air, they don’t have backs on seats in the bathroom. We’ve got it all here.”

The long-term vision for AEG and the NBA is to strike agreements with a dozen venues across Asia in which it can book concerts and tours to make touring Asia more economical. They are working together for agreements in other cities in China, including Guangzhou, Ningbo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Wuhan and other cities.

“Creating this network is key for us to doing all this stuff,” said Ed Cunningham, managing director of Asian Strategy and operations for AEG Worldwide. “We can’t just do one show and have it be worthwhile. It’s got to be in this network.”

For right now, though, AEG and the NBA’s focus is on Beijing. It will continue to host potential clients at basketball games throughout the Olympics, and NBA Commissioner David Stern and AEG CEO Tim Leiweke are expected to be on site at the arena during the second week of the Games.

“This is a very critical time for us,” Piccione said. “When you have every top executive from companies around the world in town for 17 days, this is the time to do it.”