Stern wants to take as much advantage of China as he can. The sales on NBA licensed products there and have been HUGE. Also a growing fanbase. Maybe he will work his way to us making the Finals? BTW where you hear this from?
Mark Cuban. While thanking Stern for the game last night, topic of 2nd series came up. Mark wants to make an early deposit. Negotiations are under way.
I assume he's important too, but he's not Chinese. Yao is valuable because he's from China; it's that simple. More than anything else, I have always thought it was hilarious to hear about grand conspiracies being devised against Yao. From a pure marketing standpoint, the NBA absolutely wants him to succeed if not dominate the league. They might not always give him preferential treatment but it isn't because David Stern hates Yao and wants him to lose. I chalk it up to the refs not knowing how to officiate true post-up players (true of Shaq as well) who have a huge physical advantage over their opponents. I think there is a human tendency to not make things any easier for Golaith. On a positive note, he's been getting the calls in these playoffs so far.
Is that true?? I heard on one of the broadcasts that there was 300 million dollars worth of merchandise sold in China upto this point in the year....It seems like a pretty large number to me.....How much would television rights generate in a year??
Come on Stern, at least ask the refs to call the game fair with Yao. Chinese fans should boycott the NBA in order to get Stern's attention.
So, that sounds about right....10 percent of 3 billion....bout 300 million if im not mistaken....Anybody know what the breakdown is...I mean how much of that is merchandise and how much in tv rights??
