The Future Is Bright Between China and the NBA and Here Is Why

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As the Suns defeat the Clippers in Game 2 Western Conference Finals with a score of 103-104, they took on a 2-0 series lead and were heading towards the first championship in franchise history with a full head of steam. The game was streamed on China's Tencent, which gained the attention of around 66 million viewers in China. So it seemed like the partnership between China and the NBA is back on the right track again. So what will the future hold between China and the NBA? Well, let's take a deep dive into the situation. 

Photo by Christian Petersen / Getty Images

China broke up with the NBA around one-and-half years ago, sparked by a Tweet by Daryl Morey, the former general manager of the Houston Rockets and the president of the Philadelphia 76ers, supporting Hong Kong's protest movement. Soon after the Tweet was made, the Chinese government canceled all NBA broadcasts on China Central Television (CCTV). But as time progressed, people seemed to forget about the incident as Game 5 of the 2019-2020 NBA Finals was again televised on CCTV on October 9, 2020. A couple of months later, CCTV officially announced that it would resume NBA broadcasts in early March 2021, starting with the 2020-2021 NBA All-Star Game. And now, the NBA is back on all platforms, including China's Tencent and CCTV. 

Photo by Takashi Aoyama / Getty Images

So what will happen to this partnership in the future? Well, it will likely remain stable and continue to grow as time progresses because the partnership is mutually beneficial for both China and the NBA. 


First, let's talk about how China benefits from its partnership with the NBA. Due to the different time zone, NBA games are usually televised at morning times on CCTV-5, which is not the prime time for television networks. It was these NBA games that made this time slot valuable, which attracted a large number of advertisers and viewers for CCTV. Also, the partnership between the NBA and China has benefited multiple businesses and companies in China. Whether if it's social media platforms such as Tencent and Hupu, or sports brands such as Anta and Li-Ning, they partly rely on the popularity of the NBA in China for their growth. 

Photo by NBA China

Now let's talk about how the NBA benefits from its partnership with China. The league currently has around 45 million followers alone on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform. Nearly 500 million people in China viewed NBA via Tencent during the 2018-2019 NBA season, which is more than the entire population of the United States. With the growing popularity of the NBA, China is the most significant growth market for NBA outside of the United States. In fact, Tencent signed a five-year deal worth 1.5 billion dollars in 2019 to stream NBA games in China. But this is not the only revenue that NBA is making directly from China. When considering all the gaining from the NBA China games to different sponsorship, China accounts for nearly 10% of NBA's global revenue. So China is undoubtedly crucial to the NBA's financial future. 

Photo by Mark Ralston / Agence France-Presse -- Getty Images

Just like how no one saw Daryl Morey's Tweet about Hong Kong coming on June 3, 2019, we never know what the future will hold. But for now, if nothing crazy happens, I think we can safely say that the partnership between China and the NBA will most likely remain stable and continue to grow in the future as it benefits both sides of the party. 

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