Essay Sample on the Unfinished Dream Of NBA China

Introduction

Sports is one of the major industries in the world. In China, it has gained popularity over time. China has a potential of 1.3 billion consumers for the sports industry and European soccer, for instance, has infiltrated China for a long period (Blinebury, 2018). National Football League (NFL) and Major League Baseball (MLB) are making aggressive efforts to cement their access. On the same note, National Basketball has not been left behind. NBA has achieved the impeccable feat in China. The NBA spread to China gives an important benchmark for other forms of sports. The market capital in increasingly favoring Chinese sports industry with the introduction of national stimulation policy that is geared towards acceleration of sports industry development and promotion of sports consumption.

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Upon establishment of NBA China in 2008, the sports industry realized rapid popularity throughout the nation. It was until 2010 when problems cropped up and plagued the progress of the sport. The long-term prospects of the sport came under scrutiny with the growing appetite of the game declining (Rowe and Gilmour, 2010). Under the planned economic system, the Chinese government has been funding sports affairs and activities. Globalization has been the key driver of the sports industry in China. Globalization refers to compression of space and time using technological advancements, information, trade relations and politics to bridge interstate boundaries (Huang and Hong, 2015).

Whenever domestic corporations reach saturation, they seek international expansion. Evolution of sports commercialization, free-market economies, the advent of satellite and cable television have greatly revitalized sports globalization (Huang and Hong, 2015). The globalization has created a different environment that affects the operations of Chinese NBA. In coping with this pressure, every organization needs to evolve in their capabilities to cement its existence. In this analysis, a special focus will be directed on the setup of Chinese NBA, its environment, current capabilities and their effects, the organization's performance, and the existing problems and their solutions or alternatives.

NBA China

China is considered a major powerhouse of basketball in China. It has a fan base of about 450 million. It has for the past few years shown the ability to dominate the basketball sports industry. It is one of the most popular sport in China today and continues to grow. According to the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), basketball is played by about 300 million in China, which is almost equivalent to the entire United States population. The sport is well appreciated by the youth.

The CBA first gave broadcasting rights to China Central Television (CCTV) in 1987 free of charge. Over the last decade, Beijing has gradually opened the game to external influence. This is consistent with other corporations that have been allowed to conduct interstate business in the quest for globalization. The game has incorporated outside sponsors such as Nike, Li Ning, and NBA to participate handy in the development of the sports industry (Rowe and Gilmour, 2010). The entity referred to as NBA China was established in 2008. This has allowed the formation of relationships with sponsors, local promotions and management ventures.

The basketball game was mainly supported by the state before 1995. Due to ever-growing nature of the game, financing by the state was no longer sustained and the game had to be professionalized. Consequently, CBA was created to support the activities of the game. The game grew tremendously with high profile names such as Yao Ming, Sun Yue, Mengke Bateer, Yi, Jianlian and Wang Zhizhi joining the industry (Rowe and Gilmour, 2010). Initially, China thought sending players abroad could never return, but currently, they encourage players going overseas to get experience and return to play for China NBA. It also imports talents from abroad.

With ever-increasing professionalism of the game, the game is coordinated by both local and international businesses ensuring importation of foreign players and talents and freely trade players between clubs. A number of international players such as Steve Francis, Kenyon Martina, and Stephon Marbury. The game is now well appreciated in China and it is predicted that China may dominate basketball across the world.

China NBA Environment

Political Environment

The Chinese leadership is willing to study and conform to the world dynamics of basketball sport. The active involvement of the state was crucial in the development and professionalization of the sport. China is very important in the politics of Asia. It is an economic power that is set to create attraction and influence for the culture of the game. The game is leverage for China to elevate its international competitiveness and improve Chinese comprehensive powers (Mullin et al., 2014). Additionally, excellent performance of Chinese players overseas is a powerful tool of rallying the role of the sport in China.

NBA China is the leading basketball in the nation. Today, China is politically stable. It has improved significantly both in international status and power. Beijing successfully held the 2008 Olympic Games that provided important historical chances to foster the rise of middle-class and uplift support base for NBA. Additionally, China has made significant achievements and advancements in the 30-year comprehensive reforms. The continuous development of China's economy in the coming 20 years will provide another avenue of stabilizing the sport (Mullin et al., 2014). Good political atmosphere, strong economic strategies, and the supportive government will continue to help in the growth and development of China's NBA and overall sports industry.

Economic Environment

Following the comprehensive reforms and opening up of the Chinese market, the economy of China has realized tremendous growth. The annual GDP growth rate is about 9.3% with increased government guidance and effective macro-control. China has made a record achievement in the history of world economics. Research conducted by Kaplan and Langdon (2012) revealed that China together with India, Brazil, and Russia will be economic powerhouses by the year 2050.

The rapid rise in the Chinese economy has transformed the socio-economic status of its citizens leading to expansion of the middle class. The middle has specific characteristics in their like for new things and higher expectations of taste and quality (Mullin et al., 2014). Therefore, the main consumers of NBA are the middle class and their rapid growth will increase both the fanbase and the people who play the game making China a powerful destination for NBA games. The increased demand for the game will lead to a rise in investments and consumption among the expanding middle-class. China has about 465 million youths who loves basketball. Rapid growth both in the economy and NBA has attracted both domestic and foreign institutions and enterprises that actively drive the growth and development of the game.

Social Environment

With the rapid rise in the Chinese economy and political stability, Chinese society has increasing grown stable despite challenges in transforming China's culture. Chinese government puts a lot of importance on the peasant, agriculture, and the village of China. It values peasants work and exempts them from duties and taxes. The government has significantly improved the life of peasants and has ensured their children go to school to learn. Also, there is an urban social guarantee is also committed to enhancing the cost of living allowances, medical insurance, unemployment insurance, and pension insurance.

On the other hand, the government has increased social order and curb crime rates. These government efforts have significantly reduced social conflicts, creating a stable social environment that supports the advancement of NBA sports industry (Mullin et al., 2014). There is a rapid rise in urbanization and industrialization, fast growth of the economy, stabilized society, and prosperous culture is essential in an increase in demand, growth, and investment in the basketball sports industry. NBA China has an excellent social image with an increasing number of loyal and faithful fans. Despite a couple of problems, China NBA is committed to cultivating proper attitudes, support, and intervention of crises among the public.

Technological Environment

China NBA has built a social media platform for the communities worldwide. Due to millions of followers, it is easy to popularize the game across the country and abroad. The game is supported by the youngsters who are tech-savvy, an additional feature to enhance game popularity. Technology allows the stakeholders to share NBA experience to all followers. Video streaming has also helped expand the fan base that watches the game across the globe.

NBA China Capabilities and Their Effectiveness

NBA has a large fanbase. A survey buys the NBA indicated that about eighty-three percent of Chinese youth between the ages of fifteen and twenty-four years are passionate followers of NBA. Out of this, forty percent alleged that their favorite game is basketball. Great connections with NBA have seen the organization realize about 30 million Chinese viewers that follow weekly NBA events. NBA.com has recorded over three million visits from consumers from China daily (Huang, 2013). High profile players including Yi Jianlian, Wang Zhizhi and Yao Ming have greatly popularized the game across China. Although following the retirement of Yao Ming in 2011 reduced NBA activities in China, the game is still appreciated and attended by a lot of Chinese fans. There were more than 690 million television viewers of 2014/2015 season (Shanghai Daily, 2015). The large numbers surpassed all the other sports activities in China. Besides using traditional media such as radio, television, and newspapers, NBA has aggressively made advances to integrate its activities on the internet in order to reach the youth population. NBA's official blog hosts about 27.5 million followers of the game. Additionally, NBA.com/China has registered over 8.6 million game fans. Other platforms such as Tencent WeChat, Tencent Qzone, and Tencent Weibo has over 70 million fans (Zhou, 2014). The high profile players are the fans' idols.

China NBA reaps revenue in a number of ways. The major sources that primarily drive the NBA market in China include merchandise, advertising, sponsorship and broadcasting rights (Zhou, 2014). In his speech, the former deputy commissioner, who later became the commissioner of NBA highlighted that Chinese revenue from NBA was approximated between $150 and $180 million which was roughly half of China's international revenue (Lambardo, 2010). Despite the retirement of iconic Yao Ming in 2012, the revenue still surpassed the $150 million. Since 2015, an estimated 10% growth rate was forecasted which has remained fairly constant (Han and Li, 2015). Sustained high revenue will smoothen and bolster the activities and expansion of basketball in the sports industry. This makes the organization self-supporting and sustainable.

Another capability China NBA possesses is having several sponsors both locally and overseas. Some of the high-profile names in the sponsorship include Nike, Adidas, Coca-Cola, EA Sports, Cisco, Toyota, and many others. In 2008, NBA China partnered with seventeen enterprises that generated more than $50 million (Wei, 2008). Anta, a Chinese apparel company invested about $32 million in October 2014 to gain official partner status. Also, collaboration with Chinese media generates plenty of income for NBA. The sponsorships generate a lot of revenues to support the activities of NBA. They support in a number of ways...