The NBA Hornets will play its first games in China this fall, as the NBA announced that the team will play the Clippers as part of the league’s Global Games China schedule. The two teams will play in Shenzhen on Oct. 11 at the Shenzhen Universiade Sports Center and on Oct. 14 at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai. It is the first time the NBA will play in Shenzhen. While it is the first trip for the Hornets, the Clippers played preseason games in the country in '12. “We saw it as another opportunity to leverage potential corporate sponsors and grow the brand in one of the fastest growing areas,” said Hornets President & COO Fred Whitfield (John Lombardo, Staff Writer). In Charlotte, Rick Bonnell reported the Hornets have been "working on this since last fall," when Whitfield and Hornets Exec VP and Chief Sales & Marketing Manager Pete Guelli went to China to watch two Nets-Kings preseason games. Whitfield said that the organization rebranding from the Bobcats to the Hornets this season "played a significant role in the franchise being selected to go to China." Whitfield: "When we were the Bobcats, most likely this opportunity would never have come to pass. It's the culmination of a lot of things coming together at the right time: The equity value that has been built in the Hornets brand, its global appeal." While the games are "primarily a league marketing initiative," Whitfield and Guelli believe the trip "will be helpful in keeping up the branding momentum that switching to the original Hornets' name and colors started" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 3/25).
