China-Cavs deal finally going through?
Wednesday, 16th December 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Huang Jianhua (Kenny Huang, left) in Beijing, June 2009
Yesterday, Reuters reported that Huang's deal fell through and that another group, led by another Chinese investor, one Albert Hung, is now buying that stake from Camelot Venture Group and David Katzman, former Cavs vice chairman.
But apparently Huang is not out of the picture. "Mr. Kenny Huang and Mr. Albert Hung are partners in the same company," a spokesperson for Huang told China Sports Today Tuesday. "Kenny will focus more with his investment in China while Mr. Hung will deal more with the Cavs matters going forward."
It would have been pretty embarrassing for Huang if he'd been completely squeezed out of the deal. When he made the baseball announcement in Beijing, he was calling his company QSL Sports, short for Qishi Lianmeng (骑士联盟), or Cavalier Alliance.
According to Reuters, Hung and company are paying cash and the deal should be finalized by the end of the year. According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Cavaliers and Quicken Loans Arena have already signed a multi-year sponsorship deal with Tsing Tsao, China's ubiquitous domestic beer brand. The story doesn't explain what role Huang had in that deal, saying only that the parties signed it "With Huang standing over their shoulders."
The Cavs purchase is interesting and the other moves that Huang has made in Chinese sports—the baseball program, the CBA team–suggest his involvement with the Cavs is just meant to be one piece in a future sports empire.
In the above-mentioned Plain Dealer story, Brian Windhorst is clearly a big-time believer in Huang. The story opens: "Kenny Huang is a man who understands." The next paragraph lists Huang's Trans-Pacific credentials, followed by this:
"When he sees the Cavaliers and LeBron James he thinks big, grand long-term ideas. Then he executes them."
Slurp, slurp. What big, grand long-term ideas have been executed here? Windhorst finds Huang impressive that he cites him as a source for gauging the relative popularity of NBA teams in China:
"Huang said interest in the Cavs has exploded in China and they have surpassed the Houston Rockets, who have Chinese national hero Yao Ming, in popularity."
We're not saying that Huang Jianhua isn't likely to have interesting things up his sleeve, and big-time plans for the Chinese sports market. And we're not saying that the Plain Dealer hasn't done some decent reporting on Huang (witness this article from last May). But it's a little early to crown him MVP of Sino-U.S. deal-making.
Related:
Chinese investors buying stake in Cavs
Huang bets on baseball
NBA.com: Cavs new part owners interested in signing Yao
QSL's China baseball partnership still in very early planning stages
Tags: Albert Hung, baseball, basketball, Huang Jianhua, Kenny Huang, Lebron James, NBA, QSL, Yao Ming
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
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
Throwback Nike China Commercial
Sunday, 29th June 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
It's hard to name a global brand that has had smarter China marketing practices than Nike. The series of advertising shorts above, first posted on YouTube two years ago, features everyday Chinese who can't help but turn their day-to-day lives into athletic showcases. A flat round cracker in a university cafeteria becomes a discus; a pair of boys use a repairman's bucket as a basketball hoop; a young woman uses judo moves to take down her boyfriend and snatch a bouquet of flowers from him. The commercials have a raw look, like they could have been shot by amateurs. And they will ring true—and funny—to anyone who has spent time in China.
Nike has had its missteps here, including a commercial featuring Lebron James bouncing the ball off of a kung fu master's forehead that is often cited as an example of what not to do when advertising in China. But Nike learned from that mistake, and does plenty of other things right.
To watch and search hundreds of China sports videos—from Liu Xiang's gold medal run in Athens to interviews with diver Guo Jingjing—check out China Sports Today's new YouTube playlists.
Tags: Lebron James, marketing, Nike, YouTube