NBA in China: Partnership Deals with Vivo and Alibaba
Added on 2023-03-31
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Running head: NBA IN CHINA 1
NBA in China
Name
Institution
NBA in China
Name
Institution
NBA IN CHINA 2
NBA in China
National Basketball Association (NBA) is an American-based professional basketball
league. Since its inauguration in 1946, NBA has expanded to be what it is today. Currently, it not
only has presence in North America, but has also expanded its operations to other parts of the
world including China. China today enjoys the basketball games, thanks to the expansion of
NBA in the country. For NBA to position and stabilize itself in the Chinese market, it has had to
engage in licensing and partnership deals. Over the years, the Sports Business Journal (SBJ) has
been publishing such deals. This paper, in that effect, gives an account of two of such deals.
On October 1, 2018, the SBJ published an article called “NBA China, Smartphone Brand
Vivo Expand Partnership.” In this article, it was reported that the NBA China had signed a
partnership deal with Vivo. According to this deal, Vivo was to be licensed as official NBA
China’s smartphone partner. However, what should be noted is that this deal was an extension of
the earlier one signed between the association and Vivo during the 2016/17 season. According to
this deal, Vivo was to continue enjoying a license as the association’s official smartphone brand
right from 2016 to 2020 (Sports Business Journal, 2018). The deal outlined that Vivo would
continue to serve as the association’s official presenting partner for all the games to be played
during the entire period of the contract. In its capacity as the official association’s associate
partner, Vivo will continue branding the association and marketing it through in-arena signage,
and on-court branding. At the same time, Vivo got a license to act as NBA China fan day’s
official partner (Zhou, Wang, Chen, Lei, Zhang & Meng, 2017). For Vivo to get all these
licenses, it had to sponsor the association by giving out huge sums of money that the association
would use to discharge its operations in the country. Meaning, the deal would not only benefit
NBA in China
National Basketball Association (NBA) is an American-based professional basketball
league. Since its inauguration in 1946, NBA has expanded to be what it is today. Currently, it not
only has presence in North America, but has also expanded its operations to other parts of the
world including China. China today enjoys the basketball games, thanks to the expansion of
NBA in the country. For NBA to position and stabilize itself in the Chinese market, it has had to
engage in licensing and partnership deals. Over the years, the Sports Business Journal (SBJ) has
been publishing such deals. This paper, in that effect, gives an account of two of such deals.
On October 1, 2018, the SBJ published an article called “NBA China, Smartphone Brand
Vivo Expand Partnership.” In this article, it was reported that the NBA China had signed a
partnership deal with Vivo. According to this deal, Vivo was to be licensed as official NBA
China’s smartphone partner. However, what should be noted is that this deal was an extension of
the earlier one signed between the association and Vivo during the 2016/17 season. According to
this deal, Vivo was to continue enjoying a license as the association’s official smartphone brand
right from 2016 to 2020 (Sports Business Journal, 2018). The deal outlined that Vivo would
continue to serve as the association’s official presenting partner for all the games to be played
during the entire period of the contract. In its capacity as the official association’s associate
partner, Vivo will continue branding the association and marketing it through in-arena signage,
and on-court branding. At the same time, Vivo got a license to act as NBA China fan day’s
official partner (Zhou, Wang, Chen, Lei, Zhang & Meng, 2017). For Vivo to get all these
licenses, it had to sponsor the association by giving out huge sums of money that the association
would use to discharge its operations in the country. Meaning, the deal would not only benefit
NBA IN CHINA 3
Vivo by marketing its smartphone brands, but also benefit NBA China both monetarily and non-
monetarily.
On March 6, 2019, SBJ published an article dubbed “NBA China Expands Partnership
with Alibaba Group.” This article was written by Eric Fisher. In this article, Fisher gives a
detailed account of the partnership deal that was signed between NBA China and Alibaba Group.
Alibaba is a leading Chinese e-commerce giant which specializes in the sale of nearly all kinds
of products through the internet. As clearly outlined in the article, the association gave Alibaba
Group a license to be its official partner in China (Fisher, 2019). According to the license,
Alibaba was supposed to collaborate with the association by selling the association’s products
through its online portal (website). From the details provided, Alibaba was supposed to create a
new section in its websites where it would exclusively display the association’s products and
avail it to the Chinese basketball lovers and enthusiasts who wanted to acquire any of the
products. This new ‘NBA Section’ would be useful because it would serve as a marketing
platform in which the association would get to market itself (Zhou, Wang, Chen, Lei, Zhang &
Meng, 2017). The marketing efforts would be boosted because the association would rely on the
popularity of Alibaba to create awareness, market its products, and get to inform the Chinese
market on the NBA China league’s programs, highlights, and any other updates that might be of
concern to them. For Alibaba to acquire this license, it had to sponsor the association by giving it
enough money as agreed. That is how Alibaba managed to secure this partnership deal.
From the two articles, it is observed that NBA China used its position to engage in
partnership and licensing deals with some of the leading Chinese firms-Vivo and Alibaba. In
each of these partnerships, the association gave out licenses that would give the companies an
opportunity to engage in a wide range of activities. The example that can be given from the
Vivo by marketing its smartphone brands, but also benefit NBA China both monetarily and non-
monetarily.
On March 6, 2019, SBJ published an article dubbed “NBA China Expands Partnership
with Alibaba Group.” This article was written by Eric Fisher. In this article, Fisher gives a
detailed account of the partnership deal that was signed between NBA China and Alibaba Group.
Alibaba is a leading Chinese e-commerce giant which specializes in the sale of nearly all kinds
of products through the internet. As clearly outlined in the article, the association gave Alibaba
Group a license to be its official partner in China (Fisher, 2019). According to the license,
Alibaba was supposed to collaborate with the association by selling the association’s products
through its online portal (website). From the details provided, Alibaba was supposed to create a
new section in its websites where it would exclusively display the association’s products and
avail it to the Chinese basketball lovers and enthusiasts who wanted to acquire any of the
products. This new ‘NBA Section’ would be useful because it would serve as a marketing
platform in which the association would get to market itself (Zhou, Wang, Chen, Lei, Zhang &
Meng, 2017). The marketing efforts would be boosted because the association would rely on the
popularity of Alibaba to create awareness, market its products, and get to inform the Chinese
market on the NBA China league’s programs, highlights, and any other updates that might be of
concern to them. For Alibaba to acquire this license, it had to sponsor the association by giving it
enough money as agreed. That is how Alibaba managed to secure this partnership deal.
From the two articles, it is observed that NBA China used its position to engage in
partnership and licensing deals with some of the leading Chinese firms-Vivo and Alibaba. In
each of these partnerships, the association gave out licenses that would give the companies an
opportunity to engage in a wide range of activities. The example that can be given from the
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