Spirit of the sport and the team
Basketball is the Number 1 sport in China; the country is an emerging power in the world game. At the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China in November 2010, both the men’s and women’s teams won gold.
Attracted to the fast, dynamic, powerful and competitive spirit of the game the fan base comprises a mix of both male and female fans. As one of the most popular televised sports in the country basketball has overtaken football as the preferred domestic sport with viewers. The number of players in the country is huge and 40% of China’s children regard basketball as their favourite sport.
The Chinese men’s team features popular young talent with previous experience of playing for the NBA including Wang Zhizhi (NBA player from 2001 to 2005), Yi Jianlian (entered the NBA in 2007) and Sun Yue (NBA player throughout 2008/09).
2011 has been a busy year for the Chinese men’s and women’s teams playing a series of warm-up games against fierce opponents from the USA, Australia, Turkey, Croatia, Iran, Russia and Montenegro amongst others – getting ready for the FIBA Asian Championships in Wuhan, China. The women’s team played the FIBA Asia Championship for Women in Omura, Japan in August and has already won the title with the trophy of an entry ticket to London 2012.
Rights opportunities
Infront Sports & Media is the exclusive global marketing partner of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) for the country’s men’s and women’s national basketball teams – Team China. The role covers all key aspects of marketing, including sponsorship, television, new media / image rights and the technical development of the Chinese national teams. Infront owns the global media rights for all home matches of Team China.
Media production prospects
Infront China and CCTV Sports & Entertainment (CCTVSE) have formed a strategic partnership in order to support the television coverage of Team China games. A total of 12 home games for the men’s and 12 for the women’s team are produced per year with an average of 11 cameras capturing all the action in and around the court.
Background appeal
Infront’s unique task is more than commercial. It has promised to help raise China’s position in the FIBA world rankings and — based on Team China’s performance at the Beijing Olympics and major basketball events — it is succeeding.
This has also recently been reflected by the eight year extension of the Chinese Basketball Association’s (CBA) agreement with Infront for Team China. This kind of partnership between a Chinese sports body and an international sports marketing company creates a powerful synergy in the promotion of Chinese basketball to the world.
As a result of Infront’s parallel role with the CBA, there is a unique opportunity for broadcasters and sponsors to focus on Chinese basketball as a dynamic product. The synergy between Team China and the CBA League can be taken advantage of - exploiting Chinese basketball to its maximum potential as a powerful vehicle to reach Chinese consumers.
