The NBA has opened its largest store outside of North America in Beijing. (Photo courtesy of NBA China)
The NBA has been growing its market in China for the past several years, recently turbocharged by a number of technology partnerships that include a streaming deal with Alibaba. Now, the NBA has opened its largest international store.
The league announced Friday the opening of a 12,00 square-foot, two-story retail space in downtown Beijing. The NBA is marketing the store as a “destination” for Chinese fans that will include an extensive collection of NBA Uniforms, personalized jerseys, local apparel, and the largest NBA Hardwood Classics section in mainland China. The NBA partnered with Chinese sports retailer Topsports and Nike, the league’s official on-court apparel provider, to build and supply the store, which officially opened its doors on Friday.
While the store itself isn’t a technological hub, it promises to feature the league’s “most innovative basketball offerings” and “personalized services and experiences,” including a machine that lets fans personalize jerseys directly after purchase.
The exterior of the store features a large NBA Logoman with its iconic red, white, and blue silhouette. The store’s interior was inspired by authentic NBA arenas, with a hardwood floor, player graphics with actual body measurements, a gallery of autographed game-used jerseys, and a “jumbotron” that enables shoppers to view NBA content and game highlights. A “Wall of Fame” allows NBA players and legends who visit the store to leave autographs and well wishes to Chinese fans.
NBA China’s new flagship store. (Courtesy of the NBA)
“Our goal is to make the Beijing flagship NBA Store a landmark for NBA fans in Beijing by offering them the new retail experience and wide category of merchandise,” said Topsports Deputy General Manager Tian Zhong.
The retail store will also feature a new “membership service,” though Zhong and the NBA didn’t elaborate on what that might look like or what perks joining might bring to fans. Other sports and apparel retailers, including Nike and Lululemon, have experimented with technology based membership services in the past in an attempt to lure in tech-savvy fans with exclusive access and discounts.
The first floor of the Beijing flagship NBA Store is designed as a Nike Hoop Dreams space and includes sections for Nike Basketball and Jordan Brand. It’ll offer authentic Nike jerseys, swingman jerseys, team apparel, footwear, and limited-edition products. For the first time, fans in mainland China can also customize jerseys through “NBA ME,” a jersey personalization service at the store.
The second floor will feature the largest NBA Hardwood Classics section in mainland China and offer a wide selection of Mitchell & Ness jerseys, vintage NBA apparel, authentic NBA headwear from New Era, and Spalding basketball products that will include the NBA official game ball.
SportTechie Takeaway
The NBA has long been considered not only the most tech-savvy of the major U.S. sports leagues, but also the most aggressive in international expansion. It has had a heavy presence in China for many years—the NBA opened its first office in Hong Kong in 1992, and formed NBA China in January 2008—something that peer leagues from the NFL to the NHL are now trying to mirror.
In total, 17 NBA teams have played 26 games in China. The league separately announced on Friday that it would host its first regular season game in Paris in 2020 after hosting a few preseason games there in recent seasons.
Anchoring the league’s China efforts has been a move to broadcast and stream games there. The NBA has an extensive network of television broadcast and digital media relationships in China. Licensed merchandise is available through a web of retail and authorized online stores, including local ecommerce sites Tmall and JD.
Earlier this month, the NBA announced that it would add content to Alibaba platforms for the first time. Alibaba created an NBA Section on its commerce platforms to deliver customized merchandise and content. Tencent, a major Chinese streaming platform, already has the exclusive rights to stream live NBA games, including League Pass. But Alibaba will now host NBA highlights, classic games, and original programming that span analysis and fashion shows, as well as influencer-driven videos.
