China Sports

Inner Mongolia Mengniu Dairy Industry (Group) Company (Mengniu) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) announced a new multi-year marketing partnership agreement to promote healthy lifestyles to young people in Asia by utilizing Mengniu’s and the NBA’s expertise in nutrition and sports respectively. The partnership marks the extension of a relationship started in China in 2007, with Mengniu serving as the “Official Dairy Product” of the NBA in China. Under the new agreement, Mengniu will team up with the NBA to promote the importance of sports and nutrition in six countries and territories in Asia, including Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore through NBA-themed promotions, grassroots events and NBA media programs. (NBA Press Release, 5/7/08)




Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) and the NBA are close to announcing an agreement to develop and operate up to 12 arenas in China. The deal would represent another key step in the NBA’s vision for its own league in Asia, while adding more facilities to the global expansion effort under AEG. Moreover, the deal builds on an existing partnership between AEG and the NBA to run the 18,000 seat arena being built for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Wukesong Indoor Stadium, after the Summer Games have ended. (Sports Business Journal, 5/18/08)

Korea Sports

The Korea Development Camp, an event co-organized by the Korean Basketball League (KBL) and the National Basketball Association (NBA), took place in Seoul, Korea from 5/16-20/08. The camp brought together the top 40 Korean basketball players ages 16-19 to take part in basketball instruction and competition with the MVP of the camp earning a spot to participate in “Basketball without Borders India” this summer from July 3 to 6 in New Delhi, India. Assisting with the event were Milwaukee Bucks’ starting point guard Mo Williams and forward Charlie Villanueva, along NBA assistant coaches Jeff Capel (Charlotte Bobcats) and Neal Meyer (L.A. Clippers). (NBA Press Release, 5/14/08)

India Entertainment

The Indian pay-television industry is projected to generate revenues of $11.2 billion by 2012, according to a recent report by Media Partners Asia. By 2017, this is expected to grow to $18.5 billion, with revenues from subscriptions and advertising accounting for $12.3 billion and $6.2 billion respectively. Subscriber base is also expected to expand by 137 million by 2012, and 163.8 million by 2017, with an annual growth of 10.9% for the first five years and 7.2% for the remaining five. In 2007, total pay-television revenues in India amounted to $5.25 billion, of which subscription revenue was $3.77 billion and advertising accounted for $1.48 billion, with a subscriber base of 81.67 million. (SportBusiness.com, 4/28/08)




YouTube India (youtube.co.in) launched recently with user-generated videos and content from existing Bollywood and broadcaster partners such as Eros Entertainment and New Delhi TV. Other alliances include cricket portal Krishcricket.com, the International Indian Film Academy Awards, the Ministry of Tourism and the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. (THR.com/Asia, 5/7/08)




Sport 18, the sports marketing division of Indian media conglomerate Network 18, and US-based network, CNBC-TV18, have agreed to an exclusive partnership deal with the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI). Under the deal, Sport 18 acquired the exclusive broadcasting rights for the PGTI and will use its marketing expertise to promote professional golf, while CNBC-TV18 will be the official broadcast partner for professional golf in India. Currently, PGTI manages an annual calendar of over 20 professional golf tournaments in the country. (SportBusiness.com, 5/12/08)

China Sports

The Golden Baseball League hosted exhibition games between the Chinese Olympic baseball team and the Long Beach Armada and Yuma Scorpions on 5/17-18/08, and 5/21/08, respectively. Proceeds from tickets sales, online viewing (there was a fee to watch the games online at ibnsports.com), and a silent auction were donated to the American Red Cross for earthquake relief in China. (Goldenbaseball.com Press Release, 5/9/08)