NBA to build arenas across China
Wednesday, 15th October 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Among the challenges the NBA faces in holding games in China, or otherwise taking advantage of the league's huge popularity here, is a lack of venues equipped to host NBA events. As has been expected, the league is making big moves to remedy that situation, with a joint venture with Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) to develop a dozen arenas in China.Early reports and conventional wisdom suggest that the first site developed will be in Shanghai, with an 18,000-seat arena completed in time for the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. The second site, Guangzhou, is expected to be announced at Wednesday's NBA preseason game at Guangzhou Gymnasium.
"Our largest market outside the United States is going to be here in China," said Heidi Ueberroth, president of NBA global marketing partnerships and international business operations. Tim Chen, CEO of NBA China, said that the NBA and AEG will have a $28 million stake in the Shanghai project and that the total project cost will be $277 million. By contrast, the Ford Center, a similarly sized arena that will host the Oklahoma City Thunder (formerly the Seattle Supersonics), cost $89 million to build.
NBA commissioner David Stern indicated that construction wouldn't start right away and that the league hadn't chose all of the locations for arenas, which could also be in "Greater China" cities like Taipei, Macao and Hong Kong.. "We weren't going to start construction in the next couple of weeks," he said at a news conference with AEG in London. "We anticipate that in a relatively short order we will have laid out a road map of a dozen buildings or so throughout China." He added that decisions would be made over the next several months about where to put arenas.
AEG president and CEO Timothy J. Leiweke said he considered it a 20-year project, and that most of the new venues will be "built and designed from the ground up."
The arenas will be part of multiuse entertainment complexes, according to a statement from the NBA: "Where feasible, the arenas will be developed in conjunction with surrounding cultural and entertainment districts potentially comprised of restaurants, retail outlets, cinemas, hotels, residential areas, sports training facilities and smaller live entertainment venues."
The announcement comes just days before the Milwaukee Bucks and Golden State Warriors play a pair of pre-season games in China. They will play at Guangzhou Gymnasium October 15 and on October 18 at Wukesong Arena in Beijing, the Olympic basketball venue developed by the NBA.
Related: Bucks and Warriors to play in China in 2008
Basketball's China Game Plan
Tags: basketball, Beijing, Guangzhou, NBA, Shanghai, Wukesong
Yao, Yi and Sun face different pre-season challenges
Tuesday, 7th October 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
As the start of the NBA season gets closer, each of China's three NBA players--veteran Yao Ming, second-year player Yi Jianlian and rookie Sun Yue--is facing completely different challenges.Yao Ming, along with Tracy McGrady, is one of two leaders of a Houston Rockets team that's in the hunt for a long-awaited NBA title. He's also still working on completely healing from a foot fracture that ended his season 26 games early last year. A healthy and productive season for Yao is obviously a key ingredient to team success, and to his status as one of the league's premier big men.
Yi Jianlian is adjusting to his new team, the New Jersey Nets, and jetting to Paris and London for exhibition games against the Miami Heat. After getting his wish of moving to a larger market with a bigger Chinese-American population, the power forward is now vying for playing time with other talented front court players including Josh Boone, Stromile Swift, Eduardo Najera and Brook Lopez.
In Los Angeles, Lakers rookie Sun Yue is out indefinitely with mononucleosis. The illness should keep him off the court and out of the weight room for several weeks, not a good look for a player who needs some quick NBA grooming to establish himself as someone who is ready for the league.
Ironically, no Chinese nationals will be suiting up for the two pre-season games in Beijing later this month. The Golden State Warriors take on Yi's former team, the Milwaukee Bucks, in a pair of games October 15 and 18, in Guangzhou and Beijing.
Tags: Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks, NBA, New Jersey Nets, Sun Yue, Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian
Sun Yue sidelined with mono
Friday, 26th September 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Chinese national basketball team member and Lakers rookie guard Sun Yue was introduced to the media in Los Angeles Wednesday. With the help of a translator, he addressed a crowd that was outsized considering he was only the 40th overall pick in the 2007 draft, the LA Times reports.
Sun spoke about his longtime dream of playing in the NBA, and his particular interest in the Lakers. He also sought to manage expectations for his on-court performance, characterizing himself as a well-rounded player without exceptional skills in any particular area.
"I'm average," Sun said. "Not one skill that's very, very good, but no one skill that's very, very bad."
Any hope the 22-year-old guard had of making small improvements in the pre-season were soon dashed, though, by news that he will have to miss an indefinite period due to illness. Sun reportedly tested positive for mononucleosis shortly after the press conference.
Watch the full video of the press conference on NBA.com.
Sun Yue image: LA Times
Tags: basketball, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA, Sun Yue
Bucks and Warriors to play China in 2008
Thursday, 28th August 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
The NBA keeps doing its best to dominate the post-Olympic China sports news cycle. The latest: the Milwaukee Bucks and Golden State Warriors will play a pair of preseason games in China in October. The first will be played in Guangzhou Gymnasium October 15; the second will take place at Beijing's Wukesong Arena October 18.The Milwaukee Bucks are featured in this game, despite trading Chinese forward Yi Jianlian (易建联) to the New Jersey Nets on the eve of the NBA draft. The Bucks do have a player with a China connection, rookie Joe Alexander, who spent his middle school and early high school years in Beijing.
As sports marketing consultant Xia Song told CST in June, "Milwaukee has become a popular team in China. Even without Yi, it's still going to be a popular team in China. And if they have a player with a connection to China, that player is going to get attention here."
Related:
How the NBA draft looks from China
Basketball's China game plan
Tags: basketball, Beijing, Golden State Warriors, Guangzhou, Milwaukee Bucks, NBA, Wukesong, Xia Song, Yi Jianlian
NBA signs Tsingtao, Lakers sign Sun Yue
Wednesday, 27th August 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (2)
In what we're sure is a total coincidence, NBA entities had two big China-related announcements right around the time Team USA finished its gold medal romp in Wukesong Arena in Beijing.
The other China product with a hot NBA contract is 23-year-old Sun Yue (孙悦), a guard who finally signed with the Los Angeles Lakers. Sun was drafted by the Lakers in 2007, but left to pick up some seasoning before starting contract talks this summer.
Soon-to-be Lakers guard Sun Yue
While Tsing Tsao and the NBA looks like a match made in heaven, we're a little more skeptical about Sun and the Lakers. He'll join a backcourt that doesn't need much help--Derek Fisher, Jordan Farmar and Kobe Bryant seem to have things pretty well in hand, and the team has a couple of other good prospects in training camp. Sun used to play point guard, but with the national team this season, he's been at shooting guard with Liu Wei running the point very capably. During the Olympics, he averaged a pedestrian 6.8 points and 2.5 assists per game.
Sun's been called the "Chinese Magic Johnson" in some Chinese media; don't expect that nickname to stick in a city that knows exactly how Magic played. But even if he never develops into a starter, this second round draft pick should be able to sell a few jerseys on Wangfujing, and cement more Laker loyalty among the Kobe-loving Chinese market.
For a look at Sun's pre-draft workout and video of him blocking Carmelo Anthony's shot, check out his CST profile page.
Tsingtao image: Tsingtao
Tags: basketball, NBA, NBA China, Sun Yue, Tsingtao
Yao's comments on Artest, and China's basketball fights
Friday, 1st August 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (1)
Ron Artest
The Houston Chronicle reported earlier this week that the Rockets were going to acquire forward Ron Artest from the Sacramento Kings, bringing a much-needed scoring threat and a strong defensive presence to help Yao and Tracy McGrady.
Yao should have a simple response to a trade for a proven veteran who would give the Rockets one of the NBA's best trios and a shot at an NBA title: "Good move. I can't wait to play with him." Leave the speculating about Artest's past to the media.
But when Yao got word of the trade in Nanjing, where he is getting warmed up for the Olympics with the Chinese national team, he didn't sound too excited. Artest has been involved in some controversial situations, most famously a brawl four years ago at the Palace of Auburn Hills in a game against the Detroit Pistons, which resulted in Artest getting the longest ever NBA suspension for an in-game fight.
Apparently the fighting has Yao concerned. Here are his widely reported comments from Wednesday:
"There's worry. Obviously, yes. We will think about it, of course. Hopefully, he's not fighting anymore and going after a guy in the stands. I haven't talked to Ron yet, so it's hard to say. I have to find a way to talk to him and see what we can do as a basketball team. He has a history. But we know he is a physical player. He is a good player. He really can help us. And Ron is on a contract year, too. I think Ron Artest is a good player if coach (Rick) Adelman can control the team well."
The Rockets are Yao's team, but on this one he probably should have followed the lead of teammate Luis Scola, who is also in Nanjing playing with Argentina's national team and had a more positive reaction. "I don't know anybody that knows him personally. So I'm not gonna judge him for anything that I don't know," Scola said. "It's always a help. Great players are always welcome."
It should be noted that the guys Yao is playing with right now—the Chinese national team—have also been known to throw some blows when things get heated on the court. The team was involved in a fray in a game against Lebanon at the 2001 Asian Championships in which Li Nan, who is still playing with the national team, reportedly brandished a pair of scissors. Yao was on the bench at the time and not involved in the fight. More recently, and documented with video evidence, China had a good dust-up with Puerto Rico in the 2005 Stankovic Cup (56.com video).
Artest and Yao finally spoke yesterday, Artest said on ESPN's Pardon the Interruption. "It was great," Artest said of the conversation, adding, "I can't wait to be a part of that team. I don't care if I have to come off the bench. I could be a sixth man, a seventh man. All I want to do is contribute and win a lot of games." Listen to the interview here.
Image: NBA.com
Tags: basketball, Houston Rockets, Li Nan, NBA, Ron Artest, Yao Ming
China's highest-paid athletes
Thursday, 31st July 2008 ~ Chris ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
It's gotta be tha shoes... the Reebok Yao Ming ATR Elite All-star
As reported by Qilu TV (hat tip to Shanghaiist), the top three earners in the Chinese sports world ranked according to the sum of their basic annual pay, prize money, endorsement and appearance fees are Yao Ming (RMB250 million), Liu Xiang (RMB70 million) and Guo Jingjing (RMB15 million). These are followed by Sun Jihai (RMB10 million), Shao Jiayi (RMB6 million), Dong Fangzhuo (RMB4.8 million) and Zheng Zhi (RMB4.5 million).
For the most part, Chinese athletes have yet to be fetching the astronomical salaries and endorsement contracts common for superstars in the US or Europe, but they are beginning to catch up. According to Qilu TV in Shandong province, Yao Ming is the highest-earning Chinese athlete, pulling in 250 million yuan (US$36.5 million) per year.
Being an NBA All-Star and a celebrity in both the US and China markets, Yao is miles ahead of the rest of China's biggest sports stars in terms of income. His 250 million yuan/year is more than double what Liu Xiang, Guo Jingjing, Sun Jihai, Shao Jiayi, Dong Fangzhuo and Zheng Zhi make combined.
Here's the breakdown of the athletes by gender, sport and annual income:
Yao Ming – male – basketball – 250 million yuan
Liu Xiang – male – 110m hurdles – 70 million yuan
Guo Jingjing – female – diving – 15 million yuan
Sun Jihai – male – football/soccer – 10 million yuan
Shao Jiayi – male – football/soccer – 6 million yuan
Dong Fangzhuo – football/soccer – 4.8 million
Zheng Zhi – football/soccer – 4.5 million
Aside from how far ahead of the pack Yao's earnings are, it is also noteworthy that a woman – Guo Jingjing – is in the top three, and four of the top seven are footballers, despite China being universally acknowledged as a weak football/soccer country. That said, it is unlikely that Shao Jiayi will be pulling in much in the way of endorsements or paid appearances in the next year after missing a crucial penalty kick earlier this year in a World Cup qualifier against Australia in Kunming.
Ten years ago, it would have been difficult to imagine Chinese athletes pulling in millions of dollars each year – a testament to the rapidly growing importance of professional sports and sports marketing. At this point though, it is difficult to imagine any Chinese athletes coming close to Tiger Woods' US$127 million annual income, however Yao's salary would be enough to make him one of the top ten highest-paid American athletes had he been born across the Pacific.
Tags: Dong Fangzhuo, endorsements, Guo Jingjing, NBA, Shao Jiayi, sports marketing, Sun Jihai, Tiger Woods, Yao Ming, Zheng Zhi
Rocket Ron: Artest to join Yao in Houston
Wednesday, 30th July 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
A nine-year veteran of the league, Artest joins recently acquired guard Brent Barry as a new Rocket, bringing more talent and experience to help Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady. The Kings reportedly get guard Bobby Jackson, rookie forward Donte Green, a draft pick next year and $1 million cash.
Tags: basketball, Brent Barry, Houston Rockets, NBA, Ron Artest, Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming
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