China Basketball Association

[confucius]

Have any of you ever been to one of these games? :o

I followed it until last year and now there's even a team in Xinjiang.

I once went to the league's headquarters in Beijing (east of Tiantan on Tiyuguan Road) to check out the gift shop while I was in the area shopping for tennis balls. I couldn't find any team jerseys for sale. It was so lame. I really wanted a Shanghai Sharks or Beijing Ducks jersey. They gave me an old game program to keep as a free souvenir.

I can't wait for the NBA exhibitions to be played in China next year. The farmers markets will have so much knockoff NBA merchandise for sale the week after the game. I've already seen Lakers shorts selling for less than 30 RMB.

[Guest Anonymous]

I caught a game while I was in my hotel in Lijiang, Yunnan. I don't recall which teams were playing but it left a deep impression in my mind. It seemed like every team had one or two token "foreign player" and are either black or Caucasian. CBA isn't nearly as commercialized as NBA is, therefore the game didn't feel like a "show" as NBA games usually would. Toward the end of the game, the winning team was ahead by only 10 points and the losing team just felt like they have given up even though they had plenty of time left to catch up. Overall, I believe as (if) CBA becomes more commercialized, it would become very interesting.

[TSkillet]

Sure, I've probably been to 20 CBA games in the 6 years I lived in Asia. I've seen former NBA players like Roy Tarpley, playground legends like Rasul Salaheddin, future NBA stars like Yao Ming, future NBA scrubs like Mengke Bateer and Juaquin Hawkins.

Back when Nike was doing the uniforms for a lot of teams, it was possible to buy authentic jerseys at the Nike shops - very few and far between - but I have a Guangdong Tigers and a Jilong Tigers (don't ask why they're the same mascot - I think it's because Guangdong started in Division B - but I don't know).

If you snoop around Shanghai enough, you can find some OBC shop corners and get a "replica" Sharks jersey. (OBC stands for Oriental Basketball Club). I got my Yao Ming jersey and shorts for 150 RMB.

kulong - I'm curious as to what you meant by the league isn't as commercialized as the NBA? This is, after all, a league that used to be title sponsored by a cigarette (Hilton Basketball League) and was founded by a commercial organization (IMG) - and it's got all the same courtside signage and television sponsors that an NBA team would. The main differences I think would be the arenas/gyms - the ones in China are unsponsored (unlike our local Toyota Center) and of course, there's no luxery boxes or club seating like NBA teams have here - most of the seats cost between 5 RMB and 100 RMB per game and it's fairly easy to get tickets.

confucius - There should already be NBA merchandise available for sale in China. Reebok did a "soft" launch of NBA apparel last spring (best selling jersey: Allen Iverson) - and should be rolling out into all their stores this fall. You should be seeing a lot more officially licesned product this season (and of course, a lot more knockoff stuff too)

[Guest Anonymous]

kulong - I'm curious as to what you meant by the league isn't as commercialized as the NBA? This is, after all, a league that used to be title sponsored by a cigarette (Hilton Basketball League) and was founded by a commercial organization (IMG) - and it's got all the same courtside signage and television sponsors that an NBA team would. The main differences I think would be the arenas/gyms - the ones in China are unsponsored (unlike our local Toyota Center) and of course, there's no luxery boxes or club seating like NBA teams have here - most of the seats cost between 5 RMB and 100 RMB per game and it's fairly easy to get tickets.

I don't know all the details behind CBA since I've only seen one game. However, all my comments were based on my impression from that one game I saw.

When I said that CBA isn't nearly as commercialized as NBA, I meant you don't see many CBA players promoting products as you do with NBA players. Also, NBA games tend to feel like "shows" where the players' actions are meant to entertain the audience and viewers at home. I guess what I'm trying to say is, it just feels like CBA is like a regular wrestling match where it's nothing but wrestling while NBA is like a WWE match with all the trash-talking and drama to hook viewers. As you said yourself, it's almost impossible to find CBA products but with NBA, you can go to your local athletic shoe store or go online and order NBA merchadises quite easily.

[TSkillet]

As to CBA players promoting products - that is very true. The endorsements I know about are Yao's for China Unicom, Pepsi and Mengke Bateer's for Baodao shoes. I bet Da Zhi would have some too if it weren't for his boneheaded stand against the Nat'l team (I mean I agree with him in principle, but he has to know that he's never going to get on the nat'l team now unless he apologizes or does something).

But I think the league itself is fairly (if a little crudely) commercial - with the teams actually being owned by commercial organizations (unless you count the PLA and the Bayi/August 1st Rockets)

[Guest Anonymous]

But I think the league itself is fairly (if a little crudely) commercial - with the teams actually being owned by commercial organizations (unless you count the PLA and the Bayi/August 1st Rockets)

I never said that CBA is uncommercialized. I just said that it seems like CBA is still in its infancy stage where as NBA has been around for many decades and is almost completely commericially exploited.