DHL to Sponsor NBA Basketball in Asia
14/05/2007 |
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DHL Worldwide Express, a unit of Europe's biggest postal service, signed a partnership in Asia with the National Basketball Association, seeking to tap the league's rising popularity in China and the region.
DHL Express, part of Deutsche Post AG, will be the league's express and logistics partner, helping arrange exhibition games involving NBA teams in the next three years and taking the NBA trophy on a tour of Asia in July, the league said in Beijing today. Terms of the multiyear contract weren't disclosed.
Companies are using basketball's status among Chinese fans drawn to the sport by the success of Yao Ming, the NBA's top draft pick in 2002. The Chinese sports ministry says basketball has 300 million players in the country and is the most popular sport among Chinese youth.
``China's the most important NBA market outside the U.S.,'' Mark Fischer, NBA China's managing director, said in an interview today in Beijing. ``We see the market for basketball and the NBA continuing to expand.''
DHL said it is the market leader in Asia and has spent more than $1 billion developing a network of 318 outlets in China. The company also sponsors Shanghai's Chinese Formula One Grand Prix and HSBC Champions golf event that featured Tiger Woods the past two years.
``Neither golf nor Formula One has the impact of what the basketball game can bring to China,'' said Jerry Hsu, president of DHL Express in China. ``We even have basketball courts in the Forbidden City.''
Trophy Tour
Under the agreement, DHL will take the Larry O'Brien trophy -- contested annually by the NBA's 30 teams -- on a tour of Asia in July. The route will take in the Philippines, Taiwan, China and a number of other countries and has yet to be settled, said Loron Orris, managing director of NBA Asia.
DHL will be a three-year partner of the NBA China Games, which this year will take place Oct. 17-20 and feature the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Orlando Magic and the Chinese men's national team.
The NBA was the first American professional sports league to stage games in China in 2004 when Yao and the Houston Rockets faced the Sacramento Kings. The league is carried on 51 channels in China covering 20 of the 22 mainland provinces, the NBA said.
Deutsche Post acquired the DHL Express unit in the U.S. in 2001 and Airborne Express Inc. in 2003, pitting the German postal monopoly against Atlanta-based United Parcel Service Inc. and Memphis, Tennessee-based FedEx Corp. in their home market. FedEx is a marketing partner of the NBA in the U.S.
The NBA said last month it is forming a new business unit in China and will seek as much as $200 million in outside investment for the venture. The league is advising Beijing 2008 Olympic organizers on spicing up next year's basketball competition and ensuring the stadium gets used afterwards.
(Source: Bloomberg.com)
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