Why baseball doesn´t take off in China - Tom Doctoroff

Tom Doctoroff

Many sports see China as their Promised Land as people spend more money on their leisure activities. Also baseball officials from the US expect an eager audience in China, but marketing expert Tom Doctoroff begs to differ, he tells the Baltimore Sun.

The Baltimore Sun:

"Baseball in Taiwan is popular because it came from Japan. And Taiwan is very Japan-friendly," said Tom Doctoroff, Asia Pacific CEO of advertising firm J. Walter Thompson, in an email interview from Shanghai. 

While "the spirit of the game" is relevant to "ultra-civil Japan," Doctoroff said, "there is nothing inherently compelling about baseball to Chinese people. It doesn't allow for heroic release like soccer or continuous demonstration of clever resourcefulness like basketball." 

The only China-born player to make the major leagues was Harry Kingman, the son of Western missionaries, in 1914. Miami Marlins pitcher Austin Brice was born in Hong Kong but, like Kingman, is not of ethnic Chinese heritage.

More in the Baltimore Sun.

Tom Doctoroff is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´request form.

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