NBA's top selling jerseys in China: Beyond Kobe
Thursday, 8th October 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Both of these guys moved up the list of best-selling NBA jerseys in China last year.
I wish I had 10 RMB for every time I heard an American say "They love Kobe in China, don't they?" It's true, but focus on Bryant and you miss the point. It's no surprise that he--as a reigning NBA champion and finals MVP, not to mention a shooting guard and a guy who does some work to promote himself in China--sells more jerseys in China than anyone else.
So what's interesting about this list? Here are a few ideas--I'd love to hear yours.
Lebron's gaining fast
Lebron made a big gain from 7th in 2007-08 to 2nd in 2008-09. The whole MVP thing couldn't have hurt, but James is also heavily promoted in China by Nike. With Shaq on his team, and possibly a Chinese part owner, he should knock off Kobe like a Gucci bag in China this season.
Do little guys really rule?
It's often said that Chinese fans are more interested in more diminutive players, ostensibly because they can more easily identify with smaller guys. This list doesn't give much support to that idea. Compare the China list to the most recent US list on NBA.com. Chris Paul, Allen Iverson and Derrick Rose all rank higher on the U.S. list. Carmelo Anthony comes in in China's top 10, while he only ranks 15th in the U.S. market. And while Shaq might blame the big-man issue on his absence from the China list, it didn't seem to hurt Dwight Howard. Could the supposed Chinese fascination with short players just be yet another misguided oversimplification of the Chinese market?
Did Yao really need a boost?
You'd think that pretty much everyone in China who wanted a Yao Ming jersey had managed to secure one before his seventh season in the league. Also, you'd think that Chinese fans who wanted a Yao jersey in the Olympic year would have opted for his Chinese national team gear--widely available at Nike stores all over the country--and passed on the Rockets jersey. Apparently, you'd be wrong. Yao moved from number 10 to number 6 on the list.
East and West: Market matters
Ten of the 15 top-selling jerseys in the United States belong to Eastern Conference players. In China, only seven come from the East. Tony Parker, Steve Nash and Carmelo Anthony--all higher on the China jersey sales list than the U.S. one--get more TV time in China since Houston Rockets games, understandably, feature heavily in the schedule here, which means that Western Conference teams tend to get more exposure in China.
Where's Yi?
There were a lot of complaints last year when Yi Jianlian threatened to get a starting spot on the Eastern All-Star team--one that he hadn't earned with his play, but almost got because Chinese fans voted for him anyway. Apparently, that nationalist loyalty stops at actually sporting the jersey of a guy who had a pretty weak season. Again, watch out for broad generalizations about Chinese fans. It's one thing to go online and click on a guy's name; another thing entirely to hand over all that cash and then head to the courts in the jersey of a guy who averages single digits.
Lebron James/Carmelo Anthony image: Hi.baidu.com
Tags: Houston Rockets, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, NBA, Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian
Kobe to visit Shanghai, Chengdu on Asia tour
Wednesday, 8th July 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
NBA Finals MVP Kobe Bryant is headed to Asia to "see the progress the kids have made since my last visit," according to Kix-files.com. Here is the schedule for the Kobe Bryant Asia Tour 2009:July 21, Manila
July 22, Singapore
July 23, Taipei
July 24, Hong Kong
July 25, Shanghai
July 26, Chengdu
We're bummed that he won't be stopping by either of our two favorite Chinese cities, Beijing and Kunming, but glad to see him stopping by Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province. Though not as well known to the Western world as China's east coast cities, Chengdu gets its share of international sports activity. It hosted the women's soccer World Cup in 2007, and will host the Chengdu Open tennis tournament this fall. It's also one of several cities that Major League Baseball regularly targets for clinics and other events. Chengdu and its surroundings were also hit hard by the May 12 earthquake in 2008, and Bryant will no doubt be including some kind of charity event or appearance in his plans.
Tags: Chengdu, Kobe Bryant, NBA, Shanghai
Chinese investors buying stake in Cavs
Monday, 25th May 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (1)
UPDATE: According to Titan Sports news (in Chinese, here), Huang and company's stake is to be 15 percent. The same story says some overzealous Chinese speculators are musing on the chances of bringing Yao Ming to Cleveland.
Forget about snapping up cheap U.S. real estate--Kenneth Huang and his cash-rich Chinese partners are about to make history and change the game for the Cleveland Cavaliers by purchasing a stake in the NBA franchise.
As first reported by Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, a group of Chinese investors has reached a deal to buy a stake in the Cleveland Cavaliers, pending league approval. The man behind the deal is Kenneth Huang (Huang Jianhua, or 黄健华). The best background reporting I've seen on Huang comes from the Plain Dealer (read it here). The report says that Guangzhou-born Huang studied at Columbia University, St. John's University and New York University, and gives this snapshot of his career in sports business:
"As a partner in Sportscorp China, which has a U.S. base in Chicago with well-known sports consultant Marc Ganis, Haung became a leading dealmaker with pro sports teams. He's worked deals with the New York Yankees, the Houston Rockets and USA Basketball by creating deals with Chinese sponsors."
If you're a Cleveland Cavaliers fan who wants to see your team keep its superstar, this looks like great news. It doesn't take much dot-connecting to understand that this deal could give James an excellent marketing platform in China, an opportunity that might be lucrative enough to keep him in Cleveland when his contract comes up in 2010. In addition to some guanxi in whatever industries, cities and government departments the new part owners are active, he'd benefit from the intangible benefit of pride and interest that lots of Chinese fans will no doubt take in this ownership situation.
Kobe Bryant has had a pretty good lead on Lebron in popularity in China over the past year or two, but it seems this deal could help this year's MVP squash that in a hurry. What could be cooler than Kobe and Lebron facing off in the NBA Finals this year? How about the league's two biggest stars facing off in the Chinese market over the next 10 years? I'll watch.
Kenneth Huang image: Hudong.com
Tags: basketball, Cleveland Cavaliers, Huang Jianhua, Kenny Huang, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, NBA
Titan front page: Guangdong CBA champs, Rockets-Lakers series, Barcelona's win
Monday, 4th May 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
The story at the right of the page (科比+湖人:强敌, or Kobe + Lakers, Formidable Opponents）is about the playoff series between the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers. Inside, nine pages are dedicated to coverage of the series, which starts Monday night in Los Angeles (Tuesday morning in China). It's the first time that Yao's Rockets have advanced past the first round of the playoffs. If you didn't know already, Kobe Bryant has more fans in China than he has in Los Angeles, and Yao Ming is, well, Chinese, so the conference semifinals should be as widely watched here the NBA Finals will be.
The story at the bottom of today's front page comes from European soccer, specifically Barcelona's 6-2 upset of Real Madrid.
Titan Sports is China's leading sports newspaper, putting out issues every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It is published jointly by Hunan Art and Culture Publishing House and Titan Publishing House (Danwei).
Tags: Barcelona, CBA, football, Kobe Bryant, Lakers, NBA, Real Madrid, Rockets, soccer, Titan front page, Yao Ming
All eyes on Lakers at Rockets
Wednesday, 11th March 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
But it's not just about Yao and the Rockets. There are almost as many Kobe Bryant fans in China as there are Yao fans, so people will be tuning in to see what the mvp candidate does, too.
Off the roster is Lakers guard Sun Yue, one of three Chinese players in the NBA this season. Sun missed the start of the season due to mononucleosis and played in 10 games, averaging about half a point. He has recently been reassigned to the Lakers' developmental team.
The Lakers are 2-0 against the Rockets this season.
While we're on the topic of the NBA, this Bloomberg piece is an interesting read: NBA may benefit as China boosts sports arena plans.
Yao and Kobe image: gzxw.com
Tags: basketball, Houston Rockets, Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA, Sun Yue, Yao Ming