More Shaq, Kobe and Yao on the way for China as NBA signs up more broadcasters

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More Shaq, Kobe and Yao on the way for China as NBA signs up more broadcasters
Fri Oct 25, 8:13 AM ET
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press Writer

BEIJING - Chinese basketball fans will be seeing more of Shaq, Kobe and China's own Yao Ming.

NBA officials said Friday the number of Chinese broadcasters signed on to show games has tripled this season, reaching nearly 300 million households.

"I'm pretty excited about the prospects right now," Michael Denzel, the league's vice president and managing director for Asia, said at a news conference.

The expansion in coverage is a payoff for the NBA's two-decade-old campaign to nurture Chinese interest in American basketball.

Star players such as Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers visit regularly. The league just opened an office in Beijing and publishes a Chinese-language version of its official magazine. Exhibition games could debut in China as early as next year.

Chinese viewers will see Yao, a rookie center for the Houston Rockets, in his first regular season game Oct. 30 — Oct. 31 in China — against the Indiana Pacers.

Last year, national network China Central Television and three provincial stations carried NBA games, reaching almost all 1.3 billion Chinese, the league says.

This year, eight new provincial stations have signed contracts, ranging from Fujian province on the booming southeastern coast to Xinjiang in Central Asia.

Viewers in some areas will be able to see up to four games a week. At least 30 games featuring Yao and the Rockets are to be shown.

Denzel declined to say how much Chinese broadcasters were paying for the programming. But in a welcome sign for the league, which has been struggling to expand at home following heady growth in the 1990s, he said the China market was "significant and growing."

CCTV showed its first NBA clips in 1982. Since then, China has created dozens of new cable and broadcast outlets, many of them hungry for sports programming. Economic growth has created a pool of increasingly affluent viewers coveted by advertisers.

The 7-foot-5 (2.26-meter) Yao is expected to add to the game's appeal in China.

He already was a star at home with the Shanghai Sharks before becoming the NBA's No. 1 draft pick this season and only the third Chinese to play in the U.S. league.

Yao scored 13 points in a preseason loss to Philadelphia Thursday night, hitting jumpers and free throws and blocking shots.

His compatriots Wang Zhizhi of the LA Clippers and Menk Bateer of the San Antonio Spurs are also expected to attract Chinese fans, many of them young and sought after by advertisers.

"Basketball's popularity in China is at an all-time high," said Denzel, sitting in front of a poster showing Yao making a hook shot on one side and LA's Shaquille O'Neal dribbling downcourt on the other.

Denzel presented Chinese television directors at the news conference with souvenir balls and jerseys.

"It's the No. 1 sport in terms of participation and now we have three Chinese players in the NBA and 12 television partners," he said.

Denzel said he expected even more broadcasters to sign up in the next few years. The NBA plans to promote shoes, jerseys and other products, with stores and possibly theme restaurants to come.

A Chinese-language version of the NBA's official Web site has already been set up and fans in China will this season be able for the first time to vote, in Chinese, for players on the all-star team.

"While we see plenty of opportunity for the NBA, in the bigger picture, we think basketball is going to continue to boom in this market," Denzel said.

Xu Hui, sports director for Fujian TV, said the station paid more than it had planned for the NBA games. But he said the investment was justified by advertiser interest.

"We really see it as a situation where we all benefit," said Xu.