In Asia, the NBA has never been more popular.

Last season, the NBA set a new record for the number of people who watched the game, with nearly 000,000 fans watching the game in person. On top of that, the NBA's webcasts, website visits, and app downloads are unprecedented. This year, NBA attendance is set to climb, with new highs in retail sales and social media influence. According to Forbes, the average value of an NBA team is now well over $1 billion.

However, the above numbers only reflect one aspect of the NBA. Although the NBA is known as the "American Professional Basketball League", a large part of its business is international. The NBA is becoming more and more popular in Asia. China and the Philippines are the NBA's largest and largest markets by revenue.

But what's even more interesting is that while Asia is home to about 60% of the world's population, none of the 11 international players who have joined the NBA this season have been Asian (unless you count Australia). The emergence of "the next Yao Ming" is still far away.

Which Chinese player can take over Yao Ming's mantle in the NBA?

To address this issue, the NBA's offices dedicated to China, India and six other Asian markets have taken aggressive action in recent years with a series of grassroots programs. For example, the NBA has opened a new academy to train the top young basketball talent from all over the world. The NBA office also continues to work with local athletic and education departments, as well as with the nation's leading basketball leagues to promote basketball at all levels.

While it will be some time before Asian basketball talent hits the world stage, the NBA has already forged lucrative distribution and content partnerships in Asia to serve its most passionate consumers. The N.B.A. also made a high-profile gesture of gratitude to the fans, inviting stars to visit them on both sides of the ocean for their postseason visits, as well as holding traditional celebrations.

In addition to the NBA, the Asian die-hard fans of the other "three major professional sports leagues" in the United States are more concentrated in Japan (MLB) and South Korea (MLB and NFL). The NBA, by contrast, has a much broader audience, and the NBA's impact on the Far East is just beginning, and the days of great change are yet to come.

Tip 1: Asian Superstar Program

It's no secret that for the NBA to reach its full potential in the Asian market, it needs stars who can resonate with Asian fans. If an NBA player is Asian or partially Asian, that's a good thing. However, when there are high-level players born and trained in Asian countries playing in the NBA, the appeal of this should not be underestimated.

Except for Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian, who landed in the NBA before, there are not many Asian players who can temporarily emerge on the NBA stage. In the face of this situation, what is the NBA's response? That is to promote basketball as soon as possible, get more people involved, and at least meet the requirements of the NBA at the physical level as soon as possible.

Huaxia is often the first choice for NBA players to travel overseas

Mark Tatum, vice president and chief operating officer for all international operations in the NBA, said, "Having native-born Asian players in the NBA is probably the most important task. We want to provide the coaching, training, and competition necessary to develop All-Star level players. ”

Scott Levy, NBA's Senior Vice President and Managing Director for Asia, said, "Developing an influential Asian player significantly strengthens our ability to promote basketball and grow the Asian market. ”

4 years ago, BA entered Asia. BA brings American youth programs that develop foundational skills and spread values to China, India, and all other Southeast Asian markets. More than 5.5 million youth, parents and coaches across Asia have participated in the BA program.

Onigiri Exploration Book

The BA program aims to promote youth basketball

David Shoemaker, CEO of NBA China, said: "To borrow a basketball term, our youth development program is all about full-court pressing. Initially, we partnered with the Department of Education to teach basketball as part of physical education in elementary, middle, and high schools. This is the origin of this project. ”

Following the success of the BA, the program established the Asia Advisory Council, which includes business leaders such as basketball Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo and Forbes Asia CEO William Adamopoulos. In addition, the China District has also established a leadership council that includes NBA stars Paul Pierce, C.J. McCollum and Jeremy Lin.

The NBA is also waiting for the next "Lin Madness" to appear

BA has also spawned collaborative projects such as the "NBA Yao Ming School". NBA Yao Ming School provides basketball training for young people in their spare time, and the center emphasizes playing basketball for the fun of basketball. David's explanation is: "Yao Ming himself believes that what China lacks more is people who participate in sports for pleasure. ”

The Indian market is not lagging behind either. BA projects have already been launched in 19 cities across India, with the NBA's first NBA basketball school (NBABasketball School) established in Mumbai, which began operations last month. The program requires a certain amount of tuition and can be registered by young people under the age of 18. NBA basketball schools provide a pipeline for basketball talent to develop and help them rise from the junior level.

In addition, players who are now interested in becoming professional basketball players have the opportunity to join the newly formed NBA Academy (NBAAcademy) with top-level basketball training. This year, China opened an NBA Academy, one each in India and Australia. Including the academies listed above, it is hoped that these global training centers will prepare Asian national team players to become players who are expected to make it to the NBA.

In order for Asian players to truly have the opportunity to participate in the tournament, the NBA does not stop at youth development. Practice will prove to be just as necessary for the NBA's grassroots mission to ensure that there is a vibrant professional basketball league in the region. Former NBA commissioner Scott once said, "Local leagues and federations are key. Our goal is to support them. They have good results, and we will have good results. ”

However, the NBA cannot directly intervene in the operations and talent development of leagues and leagues. This is a major problem left for the NBA at its root.

Tip 2: Event distribution and pan-entertainment

Unlike most American viewers, fans in Asia can only watch the game live in the morning. At the time of the game, many spectators in Asia were either on their way to work or already working. However, despite this headwind, the Asian market has seen a steady increase in its audience and is now among the top major markets in the world. The reason for this is due to the development of live streaming technology.

Mark said: "The situation for fans in Asia is a bit complicated. In these parts of Asia, they have to watch the game via mobile or digital platforms. Since we have provided them with access to watch our games, new spending habits have been established in Asia. (To be continued)