The NBA on Wednesday announced two games to be played this autumn in China in the US pro basketball league’s latest effort to mine a massive market with a big taste for hoops.
The Charlotte Hornets will go up against the Los Angeles Clippers in Shenzhen and Shanghai in October exhibition games to kick off the 2014-15 season for Chinese National Basketball Association fans.
The NBA is expected to announce additional international games in the weeks ahead, part of the US league’s quest to make basketball the world’s leading sport.
We’ve seen incredible growth in the development of the audience
The NBA has invested especially heavily in China, where the game is played by an estimated 300 million people and where it has announced a venture to sell NBA apparel and footwear in more than 6,000 stores. NBA officials do not disclose financial details on the China business, but said China is the league’s biggest market after the US.
“We’ve seen incredible growth in the development of the audience,” NBA China chief executive David Shoemaker said.
The NBA has offices in 12 international markets including Johannesburg, Rio de Janeiro and Mumbai. NBA executive Sal LaRocca told a sports business conference earlier this month that India is “at the top” of the list of key emerging markets.
But the NBA has long shown particular zeal for China, where it employs about 130 in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Shoemaker said the staff level will continue to grow.