Copy-paste NBA strategy into China might work - Jeffrey Towson

Jeffrey Towson

While copy-pasting foreign business strategies into China often failed, Peking university business professor Jeffrey Towson makes an exception for the American NBA strategy, he writes on his LindenIn page. "A clever long-term business strategy," he says.

Jeffrey Towson:

These are boom times for sports in China. An increased national focus on health and fitness is coinciding with a big increase in entertainment consumption. And the State Council has set a goal of making the sports industry a 5 trillion yuan ($750 billion) sector by 2025. So stadiums and fields are being built, European soccer teams are being purchased and Adidas is opening stores as fast as possible. Sportswear has even become the fashionable attire in China this year. 

Against this backdrop, baseball is playing a long game to become a major spectator sport in China. And while America's favorite pastime has long been all but ignored in the world's most populous nation, this may finally be changing. Major League Baseball, the U.S. professional league, has been quietly and patiently making all the right moves in China. The National Basketball Association is really the model for sports success in China. It is wildly popular, with over 30 million regular weekly viewers and more than 200 million tuning in for big games. Even President Xi Jinping has said he watches the NBA in his spare time. How basketball went from a mostly local activity to mass-market entertainment in China is an important business question. 

The NBA's success is frequently attributed to retired Chinese star Yao Ming. This is mostly incorrect. Certainly Yao was a unique phenomenon who catapulted the sport upwards but the NBA had already been in China for over 15 years before Yao joined the Houston Rockets in 2002. Michael Jordan, the Chicago Bulls and the Olympic "Dream Team" were already well known in China by that time. 

The NBA's success in China has actually been more about a clever long-term business strategy, which is what MLB appears to be replicating.

More in Jeffrey Towson´s LinkedIn page.

Jeffrey Towson 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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No Messi or Ronaldo for China soon - Rowan Simons

Rowan Simons

There is no shortage of ambition and money to put soccer on China´s agenda as the FIFA 2018 World Cup in South-Korea is on the horizon. But there is no quick fix to makes it into the world league fast, warns soccer expert Rowan Simons in the South China Morning Post.

The South China Morning Post:

Rowan Simons, author of Bamboo Goalposts and chairman of Beijing-based grassroots outfit China ClubFootball argues that China won’t have their own Messi or Ronaldo anytime soon.

“It is virtually impossible for a Chinese superstar to emerge in mainland China. First, over 99% of kids in China do not play football,” he said.

“From the less than 1% who even play the game, statistically 0% receive high quality coaching at the earliest ages.” 

That’s changing, in both terms of participation and coach education but there’s no shortcut for either. Simons goes further, though, suggesting that even with both in place the odds are small – an exceptional youngster would need to be spotted very early and quickly end up in a European academy for a chance to become world class.

Aside from the need for a truly world class player to drag the team forward, it has long been said that Chinese football needs a Yao Ming figure in order for the sport to really take hold among the general public. 

“Forget Yao Ming, a Chinese superstar footballer would be the biggest star ever in world sport,” says Simons. 

“China will go crazy and the pressure will be bigger than that faced by any athlete in history. The earning potential too.” 

It’s not glamorous but it will work in the long run. In the meantime, China should be bidding to host the World Cup if they really want to make sure of their second appearance.

More in the South China Morning Post. Rowan Simons 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.

Are you looking for more stories by Rowan Simons? Do check out this list.