I think you're over exaggerating. Any star player is worth millions to the owners, not just Yao. Yao has the connections, but as we've seen up till now these connections have been on an off court basis that does not really benefit the Rockets. If we landed on a dynamic scorer like Melo, then he could replace Yao's star status. Not all chinese fans are Yao fans. You could make this argument 8 years ago, but now that everything is settled, Yao is not worth as much as you think.
The financial impact for the owner of the Houston Rockets of having Yao Ming as a member of the Houston Rockets is NOT money that hits the bottom line of the Houston Rockets.....it's money that hits the bottom line of owner through other business endeavors. Les Alexander has diverse business interests all through China now. He is and owner of an entity that is engaged now in public/private partnerships with the Chinese government. He had none of that before 2002 when we drafted Yao. That's value to Les. It has nothing to do with value generated for the Houston Rockets. But it has everything to do with value generated for the owner of the Houston Rockets.
Exactly. It is not value to the Rockets we are discussing it is VALUE to Les Alexander's pocket.....which the Rockets are part of....but not the only thing in there. Yao adds money to Les.....he is very important to Les' net worth. I know that is a strange conversation to have on a basketball forum where a lot of folks here are just getting started or are still in school, but an old guy like me, this makes perfect sense. DD
There're more indirect benefit of having yao. Shoe deals for Battier. Hayes, PP... worth millions every year, and that's the money they wouldn't have earned without yao. That's the money not counted in team cap but are real extra money to the player's pocket without Les paying the luxury tax. Toyota center(and so is toyota the brand) gets enormous exposure to billions of Chinese fans consistently. If any world wide business wants to buy such advertising exposure in Chinese market, they have to pay literally hundreds of millions of dollars over the years. Les, with yao's connections, got into big stakes of IPO of anta sports. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a.9YaEvJkzGs&refer=home His 30 million stake is now worth around 100m us dollars as of today. And this is not his only stake in Chinese stock market.
dunno 'bout anyone else but that's an important distinction to this Rocket fan. still wondering how much ends up in the Rockets coffers.
Wondering how much ends up in the Rocket's coffers is irrelevent, wondering how much ends up in Les Alexander's coffers is the only thing that matters, as he is the decision maker in regards to Yao. No one else. DD
This is good and I uderstand it all, but I think that was then,this is now. Yao opened the door and les jumped inall the way, but that door is open to almost everyone now. China wants to get involved and make billions and trillions like every other capitalistic society, but control it more. If all of les dealing had yao tied to them, why do Yi keep getting traded and moved? What don't every owner just get players from china. Pandora's box is open and will stay open for les with or without yao.
This point is likely true. It's not like he's going to be divested of the opportunities he's already taken advantage of. He may not be exposed to as many of the next opportunities though...and he may feel a deep sense of attachment to Yao because of it. My point in posting that was only to counter the notion that the only value Yao would have to Les would be to the bottom line of the Houston Rockets. Yao has been a bridge for Les to opportunities in China he would never have had otherwise.
Not true, ask Google about China.... A lot will depend upon what he does or how he treats Yao, or more importantly how they PERCEIVE that Yao is treated by him. DD
As long as Yao has a desire to play nba basketball he will have roster spot on this team. Yao is the unofficial spokesperson for all of Les's Chinese investments. Its the Equivalent of Sony paying Peyton Manning to sell Tv's.
Im no expert on the subject, but it seems to be that all those well documents perks that Yaos gives us will diminish as his career does. He has attracted all this attention primarily because he has been thought of as China's premier player. Certainly if he cant play at all, and somewhat if he cant start and play close to full time minutes, this perception is going to change. And so will the money.
yao sucks. are whole situation is just getting OLD. how many teams do you know have two starters miss almost three months combined with SPRAINED ANKLES? i mean seriously? people have broken entire bones in their bodies and came back faster than Brooks and Yao have. Give me a break. as soon as Yao comes back he will get injured again. as long as Yao is alive the rockets will keep him and he will continue to be on the injured list. facts of life.
