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's still some time before Asian basketball talent hits the world stage, the NBA has already forged lucrative distribution and content partnerships in Asia, and BA has made high-profile expressions of gratitude to these fans, inviting stars to postseason visits across the ocean and 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.

China is often the first choice for NBA players to travel abroad

Mark Tatum, vice president and chief operating officer for all international operations in the NBA, said: "Getting the NBA to have native-born Asian players 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 U.S. youth programs that develop foundational skills and spread values to China, India, and all other Southeast Asian markets. There are more than 5.5 million youth and BA programs in Asia.

BA project

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 illiam Adamopoulos. In addition, China has established a leadership council that includes NBA stars Paul Pierce, C.J. McCollum. McCollum) and Jeremy Lin.

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

BA also gave birth to the "NBA Yao Ming School", which uses after-school time to provide basketball training for teenagers, and the center emphasizes playing basketball to enjoy the fun of basketball. David's explanation: "Yao Ming himself believes that what China lacks more is people who participate in sports for fun. ”

The Indian market is not lagging behind either. BA Project, Mumbai established the NBA's first NBA Basketball School, which began operations last month. The program requires a certain amount of tuition, and BA Basketball School provides a way for basketball talent to develop and help them stand out from the junior level.

Indian-American NBA player Simbra

In addition, players who aspire to become professional basketball players now have the opportunity to join the newly formed NBA Academy, which offers top-level basketball training. This year, three NBA academies have been opened in China, 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 U.S. 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.

When mobile live streaming meets NBA...

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. ”

In 2015, David Shoemaker, CEO of BA China, said: "On average, a match broadcast by Tencent attracts about 2 million viewers, and the number of viewers in the heavyweight tournament can be as high as 10 million to 20 million. For us, Tencent not only brings us a huge amount of money, but also provides us with new ways to connect and interact with a large number of fans. ”

Bundled with social platforms, the NBA under Tencent's rule has exploded with new vitality

Another major broadcast contract for the NBA league is with Indonesian media company Elang Mahkota Teknologi (EMTEK). After that, the NBA will have a similar broadcast channel in Indonesia as Tencent. The contract calls for at least 240 matches to be broadcast live via digital, mobile and free-to-air TV platforms. In addition, the NBA has signed separate partnership agreements with 120 Media Collective and Advanced Info Service (AIS), and has also been offered opportunities to work with top broadcast platforms in India and Thailand.

But arguably the biggest attraction of the NBA is its influence on social platforms. In 2015, the NBA became the first major league in the U.S. to partner with LINE, a globally leading app in Indonesia and Japan. QQ (Tencent) and Weibo (Sina) BA China have also attracted 120 million followers through these two platforms.

Outside of the United States, the Philippines has the largest number of NBA users following the NBA through Facebook and Twitter. The number of followers is 5 million and 2 million, respectively. Facebook is also very popular in India. Earlier this year, Indian fans took to Facebook to watch the first NBA game to be streamed live.

In addition, in order to cater to the needs of the new era of audiences, the NBA also wants to create its own esports league. Not long ago, the NBA league and Take-To jointly announced that the league will establish an NBA 2K esports league from the 2017-18 season, and 17 teams have been recruited to participate.

In addition, the NBA also has a strong interest in virtual reality (VR). During February's All-Star Day, users with an International NBA League Pass will be able to watch games that are broadcast live in virtual reality for free. Indian-born Vivek Ranadive, the big boss of the Sacramento Kings, has brought virtual reality technology to his hometown. The growth potential of virtual reality technology is clear, but the development of virtual reality technology will face greater challenges in the coming years than esports.

NBA player Ingram experiences VR equipment

Another new technology that the NBA is dominating is wearable technology. Under the new collective bargaining agreement, this technology will continue to be the trend of the future, despite its many challenges.

Tip 3: Customized operations for the Asian market

In Asia, including the aforementioned Manila office, the NBA has a total of six offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Taipei, and Mumbai. Today, NBA China CEO David Shoemaker leads a team of more than 170 members in Greater China, while NBA Asia Senior Vice President and General Manager Scott Levy also manages a team of more than 50 people operating throughout Asia.

David Shoemaker

NBA commissioner and chief operating officer Mark Tatum has been emphasizing the need to increase the league's presence in the region. NBA commissioner Adam Shaw promoted Mark in 2014, marking the NBA's focus on international growth strategies, according to Sports Business Daily.

The Asian market is also very important for many of the NBA's current star players. Kevin Durant, who was in China last summer, will visit an NBA basketball academy in India this summer. All-Stars like LeBron James (Nike, Tencent, and Intel partners), Stephen Curry (Under Armour, Vivo partners), James Harden (Adidas partners) and many others have annual global promotions.

It's the season of stars coming to China again

While star players traveling around the globe are sought after by fans, NBA teams playing preseason games overseas tend to have a bigger splash. Tetum's attitude towards the preseason is also bright: "The atmosphere of the preseason abroad is also as hot as an All-Star game. Last year, we sold out tickets for two pre-season games abroad in a matter of hours. ”

Although winning or losing such games has no impact on the team, they are the truest proof of the benefits generated by the league's live streaming in the region. For the past few years, Chinese mainland has been the exclusive venue for the event in Asia. This trend will continue in 2017. After Chinese businessmen bought a stake in the Minnesota Timberwolves last summer, the NBA league decided to arrange for the Timberwolves to play a game against the Golden State Warriors, a top-influential NBA team.

At the same time, NBA culture nights are becoming more common across the league. For teams located in diverse metropolises, the NBA's operating philosophy is simple: highlight the key elements of their cultural background and allow fans to enjoy a multicultural carnival.

As mentioned earlier, Indian viewers enjoyed a "Bollywood Night" on Facebook while watching the Sacramento Kings host the Golden State Warriors. On the occasion of the 2017 Chinese New Year, nine NBA teams held celebrations. Among them, four teams wore special Year of the Rooster jerseys.

The NBA's launch of custom jerseys for the Spring Festival has become a regular column every year

Although in 2011, the NBA's influence in the United States and other countries was weakened due to the shutdown. But since then, the NBA's influence has been growing in Asia. Nowhere is this more evident than in China. "Latecomers" such as India also hope to follow in China's footsteps and further develop the potential of the market.

Vice President Scott Levy's words are meaningful: "India also has a very large market potential. 1 billion people, with an average age of 25. Both income and the middle class are growing rapidly. These are all important factors that will help the NBA expand rapidly in India in the near future. "And the NBA is already on the move, and it will definitely invest a lot of time and energy in India in addition to China in the future.

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