Explainer | Houston, we have a problem: what’s at stake for the NBA in the Hong Kong-China stand-off?
- The current furore over a tweet by Houston Rockets’ general manager in support of protesters could prove costly to the growth of top-level American basketball in China
- Forbes magazine estimated the value of NBA China’s operations at US$4 billion in early 2018
The subsequent backlash, both in China and now in the United States, has jeopardised efforts by the National Basketball Association (NBA) to expand its business in China, its most lucrative and fastest growing market outside the US, while potentially threatening its popularity in its home market.
Just how much is China worth to the NBA?
The NBA doesn’t report specific revenues, but Forbes magazine estimated the value of NBA China’s operations at US$4 billion in early 2018.
How big is the NBA in China?
The NBA’s first efforts to develop the China market began in the late 1980s with a deal to share advertising revenue in return for games being broadcast on CCTV, the state broadcaster. The NBA later opened an office in Hong Kong, in 1992, and NBA China was formally launched in 2008, with its first office housing just three employees.