NBA is attacking the China market on several fronts - on the net, TV and retail - as it capitalises on Yao's China connection. With viewership of Yao's games tripling, according to the NBA, the league's website has partnered with SOHU.com, China's leading portal, to launch the Chinese-language NBA.com/china, offering 80 per cent from the US site. Page views have reportedly surpassed 2.2 million a day since the site's launch.
The launch follows the signing of television deals with the mainland's national broadcaster China Central Television and 13 other regional stations for NBA programming.
The website launch follows NBA's opening of an office in Beijing in a move to "develop Government and client relationships as China is our most important business, as far as branding is concerned"said Mark Fischer, NBA's managing director for China.
The NBA has also inked a deal with China Travel International (CTI), in which Chinese fans can now purchase NBA holiday deals. It is also preparing to open an NBA store in China. The brand is close to signing a deal with a local apparel company to come up with a slew of consumer products. "We already have NBA basketball shoes by Reebok for sale in the Asian market and are working with deals for notebooks, posters, keychains, etc as well," said Fischer.