NBA nets deal to open ‘experience centres’ in China with Harves, extends Migu partnership

League follows Manchester United with ‘NBA DreamCourts Preview Centres’ with Chinese real estate firm Harves
Deal with China Mobile and its streaming arm Migu also extended despite ongoing issues keeping games off screens

NBA (National Basketball Association)

Jonathan White

Published: 4:55pm, 10 Nov 2021

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Despite a number of issues, including the controversy surrounding Boston Celtics centre Enes Kanter’s protests against the government of Xi Jinping, it is business as usual for the NBA in China, with the US-based league announcing two new deals this week.

The NBA announced its partnership with Chinese real estate firm Harves to create an “experience centre” for the league and engage with fans in the country.

Harves previously partnered with English Premier League giants Manchester United to create experience centres, with the first opening in Beijing last year.

The NBA announced that the first of their “NBA DreamCourts Preview Centres” – which will feature dining and retail outlets, plus interactive games – is set to open in Suzhou next May.

People walk past the National Basketball Association (NBA) store in Beijing on October 9, 2019, amid the fallout from Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey’s tweet. Photo: AFP

It is reported that Suzhou will be the first of six such centres, with the deal announced at the ongoing China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, where the NBA is once again exhibiting.

The NBA is the largest exhibitor in the sports and outdoor section of the CIIE, as they were last year despite ongoing difficulties in China.

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“The launch of an NBA experience centre will create more consumption scenarios for Suzhou,” Harves chairman Zhang Bo said at a press conference. “We hope to grow it into a Landmark project in the sports industry.”

These will not be the first NBA lifestyle hubs in China, with a world-first “NBA Centre” opened in Tianjin in April, 2018. That was a partnership between NBA China and Hongkun Group.

This deal with Harves came on the back of am extended partnership with China Mobile’s streaming offshoot, Migu, for the next five seasons, while China Mobile has also acquired the rights to the NBA League Pass.

NBA logos are seen next to Chinese national flags outside an NBA-themed lifestyle complex on the outskirts of Tianjin, in October, 2019. Photo: Reuters

The NBA partnered with Migu in 2018, with the deal marking Migu’s first partnership with an overseas sports league. It has since gone on to sign with the UFC.

Last month the NBA also signed a new deal with Kuaishou, the Chinese short-video platform, despite being off the air on traditional television broadcasts.

While Kanter’s ongoing demonstrations have seen the Celtics join, the Philadelphia 76ers in being blacklisted from the NBA’s official Chinese streaming partner Tencent, the whole league is still off Chinese terrestrial television.

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CCTV stopped showing the NBA beginning with the 2019-20 preseason NBA China Games in Shanghai and Shenzhen after a tweet supporting Hong Kong’s anti-government protesters made that October by then Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey.

No NBA teams have been back to China since the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets completed that two-game series.

NBA action returned briefly to CCTV screens for the Finals last November but has not been seen since during the entirety of last season or the current season, which began last month when Kanter began his protests.

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While the Rockets have since returned to Tencent, the 76ers have been pulled from the steaming site since they hired Morey after he left Houston.

China was worth some 10 per cent of the NBA’s global revenue in 2019, Yahoo Finance reported.

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