NBA Hopes to Continue Taking Great Leaps in China

The NBA is America's leading sports export to China, and it's about to begin an unprecedented expansion in the world's fastest growing major economy.

The lure of a country with 1.3 billion people, where 300 million play basketball - that's the entire population of the United States - is too lucrative to resist.

"We believe the potential of a market with four times the population of the United States ultimately must be at least what the United States is,'' said Adam Silver, the NBA's deputy commissioner, who describes China's growth potential as "exponential.''

The NBA has never undertaken such an expansion, so the exact outline of what's about to unfold is unclear. But the direction is unmistakable.

Timothy Chen, one of China's best known business executives, begins work Monday as the chief executive officer of the company's new Chinese subsidiary - NBA China.

Chen was Microsoft's top man in China until he resigned last month. He'll be charged with pulling together TV rights, sponsorships, new digital offerings and, perhaps, a new freestanding NBA-branded league in a country where NBA merchandise is already sold at 50,000 outlets.

The potential growth is unmistakable.

The NBA generated about $50 million in revenue last year from China, the league's largest market outside the United States. That pales compared to overall NBA revenue of almost $4 billion. But the NBA's 80-person staff in China is set to grow five times in the next several years and Silver suggested revenue will make at least comparable gains.

Ninety 90 percent of the new subsidiary will be owned by the league. Two five-percent shares will be sold to Chinese investors and to a U.S. media company. Silver wouldn't confirm it, but the American buyer is reported to be the Walt Disney Company, which owns ESPN and ABC.

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source : NBA.com