Li Ning picks up Evan Turner and USA Diving
Wednesday, 1st September 2010 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
When Turner takes the court this fall, he'll be wearing Li Ning shoes.
USA Diving has also inked a contract with Li Ning, making it the team's official apparel sponsor through 2012. The brand's other non-Chinese national team sponsorships include Spain and Argentina's basketball teams, and USA Table Tennis.
Although these signings and Li Ning's opening of an Oregon concept store and R&D center have all lead to speculation that this could be China's first brand to become an international powerhouse, I've always said that these moves are more about creating an appearance for Chinese customers than about seriously competing with Nike and Adidas globally. Quoted in People's Daily, Ben Cavender of China Market Research Group puts it pretty clearly: ""What they don't admit to and what they are being slightly cagey about is that their strategy is to firm their position in China as a domestic brand. They can appeal to a certain Chinese nationalism by playing on being able to compete head-to-head with the major international brands because they have these big-time athletes."
Related: Can China's hottest sportswear brand go global?
Evan Turner image: Hi.baidu.com
Tags: Baron Davis, diving, Evan Turner, Li Ning, Shaq, sports apparel, sports marketing
China Sports Update: Huang, Yi Jianlian, MLB, Starbury
Tuesday, 31st August 2010 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Yi Jianlian, Washington Wizard, in a Washington Bullets jersey
Sometimes we get a little bit behind at keeping you up to date here at CST. Sorry about that, but below are a few of the top recent stories:
Huang and QSL never made a formal bid for Liverpool FC
Kenny Huang, Marc Ganis and their company QSL are completely out of the Liverpool FC buying discussion. And accoring to a recent report in the Telegraph, they never made a formal bid. QSL seems to be blaming the deal's evaporation on all the publicity, claiming it caused their key investor to walk away. Hmm… A Chinese investor thought it was going to quietly buy an English Premier League team? Huang's now 0-2 on these big-league bids, and he was confident enough about the first one to name his company after it (QSL stands for Qishi Lianmeng, Cavalier Group, a name chosen while the company was hoping to buy a stake in the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers). With these high-profile fails in two of the globe's biggest sports leagues, he's sure to be viewed more skeptically in the future.
Yi Jianlian eludes NBA China's grasp, again
Every October, two NBA teams come to play exhibition games in a few Chinese cities. Last year, the Denver Nuggets played the Indiana Pacers. In 2008, the Milwaukee Bucks played the Golden State Warriors—a matchup that would have brought Yi Jianlian back home to play, if he hadn't been traded to the New Jersey Nets on the eve of the 2008 NBA Draft.
Yi's slipped through the NBA marketing department's fingers yet again. This spring, the NBA scheduled the Houston Rockets to play the New Jersey Nets, in what would have been an historic opportunity to see China's two current NBA players go head-to-head in Beijing and Guangzhou. But the Nets sent Yi to the Washington Wizards, so Yao Ming, if he's actually back on the court by then, will be the only Chinese national in the game.
Right now, Yi's busy in Turkey, where he's leading the Chinese national team at the FIBA World Championships. China is 1-1 with a loss to Greece and a win over Cote d'Ivoire (who are sponsored by Chinese basketball apparel brand Peak). He's averaging 26 and 11. In the next game, August 31, China faces Puerto Rico and Yi has a chance to avenge his dismal 3-for-15, 11-point performance against them at Madison Square Garden two weeks ago.
MLB still swingin'
Despite its sport being dropped from the Olympics, Major League Baseball has not given up on China. The Washington Post just ran a great update (with some nice photos) on the MLB's China activities, which are largely focused on a training academy in Wuxi, where players learn the game under the direction of Rick Dell, who has been key to MLB's Asia efforts for years now. Interesting takeaway from this piece: It implies that the teenagers training in Wuxi now are being groomed with the hopes not that they will make the big leauges, but that they will train the players from the next generation who will.
Starbury to return, with more shoes
Stephon Marbury's coming back to Taiyuan this year, to play for the CBA's Shanxi Zhongyu, with whom he's signed a two-year contract with an option for a third. This time, Marbury's taking a more strategic approach to marketing his Starbury shoes in China, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Yi Jianlian in a Bullets jersey image: Hi.baidu.com
Tags: English Premier League, FIBA World Championships, Huang Jianhua, Kenny Huang, Liverpool FC, MLB, NBA, QSL, Stephon Marbury, Yi Jianlian
More than window shopping? "Kenny" Huang Jianhua and the Liverpool bid
Friday, 6th August 2010 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (1)
Earlier this week, "Kenny" Huang Jianhua entered the UK media spotlight when "it emerged" (The Times' words) that he was trying to lead a purchase of the English Premier League's Liverpool FC. Several reports indicated that he was working on behalf of the Chinese Investment Corporation (CIC), China's sovereign wealth fund. Midweek, Huang's PR people issued a press release saying that he "has registered interest in investing in Liverpool FC but has made no formal bid."Kenny Huang buying Liverpool FC? Certainly not on his own. Chinese government buying Liverpool? Very unlikely. This story already has too many unnamed sources, but I have to add one more: This morning I spoke to someone close to the CIC, who says that people there who would be involved in such a deal if it were in the works, and that person "have never heard of Huang Jianhua."
Huang (left) with Chinese Baseball Association chairman Lei Jun
As Gady Epstein, Forbes' man in Beijing, explains, it seems to make no sense for CIC to get involved in English soccer. The CIC's job is to make money, and despite being high-passion and high-profile organizations, soccer clubs are not high-profit. But China Daily reports that over the past two weeks, CIC has divested almost precisely enough of its investments to raise the 351.4 million pounds that The Guardian says is a rumored sale price for Liverpool. Matt Scott at The Guardian suggests that CIC is interested in Liverpools' TV rights and is speculating that the team can improve its finances by better leveraging media. There is also wide speculation that the club is undervalued, meaning that whoever buys it could possibly make a quick profit reselling it soon.
Huang clearly has interest in buying the club—or, more accurately, helping an investor or a group of investors make the purchase. He's no Mikhail Prokhorov, the self-made Russian billionaire and new majority owner of the New Jersey Nets. He needs other people's money to get this done.
As for the CIC/Huang connection, Epstein wisely guesses that someone got wind of a relatioship Huang has or says he has with CIC, and blew it out of proportion. But I'm inclined to think that Huang leaked the information himself. Though he shies away from direct media contact, he likes to manipulate the media. When he held a rare press conference in Beijing last year to announce his partnership with the Chinese Baseball Association, as reported here, the whole affair seemed targeted at potential sponosors who could help fund the Chinese Youth Baseball League, for which his company, QSL, had no actual plans. Also, Huang is a broker who seems unsatisfied with hanging in the background—he wants to be the face of the deals that he's involved in, and self-promotes accordingly.
Could it be that he leaked the Liverpool story to generate some buzz, and signal to potential investors that he was in a position to help them bid for Liverpool? Or maybe he learned that CIC was liquidating in preparation to make a bid, and he hopes to bluff his way into representing them.
Whatever is going on, Liverpool fans should know soon who their team's next owner will be, as the current owners are trying to get the deal done by next week.
Tags: Huang Jianhua, Kenny Huang, Liverpool FC, Premier League, QSL, soccer
Beijing bars hosting charity benefits on Olympic anniversary
Thursday, 5th August 2010 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (1)
Two years ago today, Beijing was the most nervous city on the planet. Its Olympic venues were ready, but—depending on who you asked—either negative coverage by the international media, or problems like air pollution, forced relocations, ethnic unrest and Internet censorship cast some doubt over the days, weeks and months before the games.
One of the propaganda signs that were ubiquitous in Beijing ahead of the 08 Olympics. "Honor the motherland; Applaud the Olympics."
While many still argue that the Olympics in general, and Beijing's Olympics in particular, do more harm than good, the 2008 Games were largely viewed as a success in terms of event management, athletics and entertainment.
In honor of the two-year anniversary of the Beijing Olympics, this weekend a few Beijing bars will be holding theme nights benefiting local sports charity, CAI, which provides sports and arts programming to schools for the children of migrant workers in the capital. So if you think the Beijing Olympics were a boon to the country and the planet, come on out and celebrate. If you think they were a crime, come out and be part of the solution by supporting a charity that gives Beijing's most disadvantaged young people the chance to play organized basketball and soccer.
Here, cribbed with permission of the man behind Beijing Boyce, is a breakdown of the weekend's festivities:
Saturday, August 7
China Doll, 11 PM-2 AM
This Sanlitun nightclub was a party spot for some of the games' biggest stars. This Saturday, according to Boyce, it will "show footage and photos from its Olympics parties and display its flag decorated with the signatures of scores of Olympic and Paralympic athletes, including Usain Bolt.
"Flaming gold medal" shooters on Saturday are RMB30, with RMB15 going to CAI.
Sunday, August 8
Fubar, 6-8 PM
Fubar wasn't around during the Games, but its owner managed another Beijing bar then, and its location inside an Olympic venue (Workers' Stadium) makes it a great place to celebrate this weekend.
The bar's mixologists created the Fu Wa cocktail for this occasion. The Fu Wa is RMB25, and RMB15 goes to CAI.
George's, 8 PM-
Located very close to Fubar, George's will screen the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics, starting at 8 PM.
All martinis are RMB30, with RMB15 going to CAI.
For more information, go to Beijing Boyce.
Tags:
Zero Tolerance for Sloppiness: China's Age-faking problem
Friday, 30th July 2010 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (1)
China is taking a zero-tolerance stance and adopting new measures to ensure its athletes meet age requirements for international competition, said Cai Zhenhua, vice president of the State General Administration of Sport, according to this report in China Daily. Cai says that the new approach starts with the upcoming Youth Olympics August 14 to 26 in Singapore. Athletes have been asked to furnish six different forms of ID, listed by China Daily as: "birth certificates, ID cards, passports, domestic athlete registration cards and domestic and international authentication for competitions."
Yi Jianlian's high school ID, listing him as born in 1984
The article adds that "athletes under 16 have also undergone bone-age checks through nuclear magnetic resonance." China Daily not explain why athletes who claim to be over 16 aren't required to take the tests.
But how much can these new regulations really do to solve China's age-faking problem? The country's national teams aren't generally thought to be the source of the practice. It begins much earlier in athletes' careers, when they are competing for their provinces. Leaders of those teams receive bonuses tied to performance in national and international competition. These bonuses can represent a major portion of their pay, so there is a strong incentive to shave a couple of years off (in sports like basketball and soccer, so players can enter youth competition for longer) or tack a couple on (in sports like diving and gymnastics, where young girls' flexible bodies are an advantage).
No doubt China wants to avoid future embarrassment like it experienced when the International Olympic Committee stripped its 2000 Olympic women's gymnastics team of a bronze medal after determining Dong Fangxiao had competed under a falsified age.
But I have a hard time believing that sports administration officials really care whether athletes are telling the truth about their age—they just want them to stop getting caught.
Dong was busted because of her own careless mistake. When she applied to be an official at the 2008 Olympics, she provided her real birth year, 1986, instead of the 1983 date that she had used to register for the Sydney Olympics. Others have been caught with a secondary form of ID that carries their real age. In 1999, Wang Zhizhi was picked up by the Dallas Mavericks despite his reported birth date making him too young to be drafted by an NBA team. The Mavericks had access to the center's military ID, with correct age (two years older), thanks to a Beijing-–based Nike employee. Yi Jianlian, who plays for the NBA's Washington Wizards, is widely thought to be two years older than his official birth year of 1987 indicates; two years ago, Chinese reporters dug up an old high school ID that listed his birth date as 1984. In all of these cases, a more careful scrubbing of history would have kept the athletes' secrets buried deeper.
Whether the administration really wants to make sure that its teams are compliant, I can't say for sure. But I am willing to bet that what lower-ranking and provincial sports officials will hear is this: "If you want to fake ages, you'd better start covering your tracks."
Yi Jianlian high school ID image: Sohu.com
Tags: age faking, cheating, Dong Fangxiao, gymnastics, sports administration, Wang Zhizhi, Yi Jianlian
Yi traded to Washington
Saturday, 3rd July 2010 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (2)
Yi Jianlian will start his fourth NBA season playing with his third team, after being traded by the New Jersey Nets to the Washington Wizards earlier this week.The Nets acquire Quinton Ross, who has a $1.2 million contract, in the trade, and get rid of Yi's $4.5 million salary. That will leave them with about $30 million in salary cap space to try and lure some of this summer's top free agents. Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh and David Lee are some of the players still up for grabs.
Yi, who averaged 12 points and 7 rebounds this season, joins number one draft pick John Wall at Washington (Wizards' roster), as well as late-round pick Hamady Ndiaye from Senegal via Rutgers University, and like Yi, 7 feet tall. Any team that picks up Yi is taking on a project—the forward is still unpolished, and missed more than a third of this season due to various injuries.
Tags: basketball, NBA, New Jersey Nets, Washington Wizards, Yi Jianlian
Where to Watch the World Cup: Beijing, Shanghai, Kunming
Friday, 11th June 2010 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (3)
Don't see your Chinese city on here? Want to tell us where you're watching? Leave a comment!The closest that China's favorite team is getting to the FIFA World Cup this time around is last week's warmup game against France, which underdog (understatement!) China won 1-0 on a free kick goal from Deng Zhuo Xiang in the 68th minute.
But this country has had plenty of time to adjust to its absence from the 2010 World Cup, and there are plenty of fans here supporting Italy, Argentina, England, Brazil and Spain—any team that's a contender has a fan base in China.
This is the biggest sporting event since the Olympics, and bars are looking to cash in with viewing parties galore over the next month. Here's a quick breakdown of some great sources of information on where to watch:
Beijing Boyce is the capital's most prolific eating and drinking blogger. Lucky for us, Boyce is also a sports fan. Here's his extensive list of place to watch the World Cup. He's also got recommendations on where to buy country flags and gear, and no doubt will be reporting on the viewing experience once the games start.
The Beijinger doesn't seem to have a direct link to a list of viewing options, but bars will upload their promotions here, and users will chime in on
the best places to watch.
City Weekend's Beijing and Shanghai sites both have World Cup pub guides. Charles Silverman (Beijing) highlights the best places to watch outdoors, the hidden sports spots, and some swanky joints for fans with deep pockets. CW Shanghai offers a quick list of bars, and tips on where to buy face paint and jerseys.
Finally Kunming, my Chinese hometown, seems to have come a long way in sports broadcasts in the past two years. GoKunming's list is evidence that Chapter One now has a lot of competition for fans who don't want to watch alone at home.
Tags: FIFA World Cup, football, soccer, sports bars
This Week in China Sports: NFL Draft, new CBA champion, Olympic gymnasts stripped of Sydney medal
Friday, 30th April 2010 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (1)
Ed Wang was, indeed, picked up in the NFL draft. He went to the Buffalo Bills with the 140th pick, becoming the first Chinese-American drafted by an NFL team. Titan Sports News, China's top sports newspaper, featured Wang on its front page.The Guangdong Southern Tigers beat the Xinjiang Flying Tigers 103-94, winning their sixth Chinese Basketball Association title. Guangdong took the series 4-1. Only the Bayi Rockets, the Chinese army team, have won more titles (8), and Guangdong has been the CBA champion all but one of the last seven years. (Xinhua)
Bob Donewald, coach of the Yao Ming-owned Shanghai Sharks of the CBA, was tapped to coach the Chinese men's national basketball team through the end of the year (Washington Post). Donewald coached NCAA basketball at several different Midwestern universities throughout the 80s and 90s. He will lead a Yao-less team at the world championships in August and the Asian Games in November.
The International Olympic Committee stripped China of its bronze medal in the gymnastics team competition in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, after Dong Fangxiao was ruled to have been underage. The bronze now goes to the United States team. Ironically, Dong was outed by her accreditation papers for working as an official at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. That paperwork has her birth date as January 23, 1986, and not January 20, 1983, as she had declared in Sydney. Olympic gymnasts must turn 16 in the year they compete in an Olympics, per restrictions set by the Federation Internationale Gymnastique (AP via ESPN).
Kenny Huang is NOT denying rumors published in the Sunday Mirror that he is in talks to buy Liverpool Football Club. He only denies speaking to a reporter from the paper, and said he would not comment on the rumor.
China may not have a team in the FIFA World Cup, but they do have a presence. Many of the South African flags currently selling well in the host country, are made in China and apparently the imports were not quite printed right (Mail & Guardian)
Tags: basketball, Bob Donewald, CBA, FIFA World Cup, Guangdong Tigers, gymnastics, IOC, Kenny Huang, NFL, Olympics, Shanghai Sharks, Xinjiang Tigers, 黄建华
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