CNBC is on assignment in Macau. As the NBA makes its high stakes return to China after an absence of over 5 years, the league is back. But is it a slam dunk or a risky rebound? With millions of fans watching, and billions of dollars in sponsorship, media rights, and merchandise on the line, this is more than just a game. It's a business play with global implications. And it's all unfolding as US-China relations remain strained, raising the stakes for one of America's most iconic exports.
I'm Emily Tan and over the next 30 minutes, we hit the court and dive deep into the NBA's long-awaited return to China, speaking to some of the key players who made it happen. With more than 300 million basketball fans in the country alone, there is a lot on the line. And nearly six years ago, it was all at risk.
In 2019, a single tweet in support of Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests sparked a firestorm. Merchandise sales were halted, games pulled off the air, and sponsorship deals dropped, threatening the NBA's future in its biggest international market. But now after a long road to recovery, the league is back and basketball is as popular as ever in China.
Arguably, no single person has pushed harder to thaw ties between the NBA and China, than Alibaba's Joe Tsai. Tsai has invested heavily in sports, including professional lacrosse, soccer, women's basketball, and yes, the NBA, when he purchased the Brooklyn Nets for $3.5 billion in 2019.
Now, basketball is back in China, and the Nets are one of the two teams going head-to-head in preseason action.
The NBA has a huge fan base in China, hundreds of millions of fans. And during the time when the NBA wasn't playing games here, they continued to, you know, the games are broadcast in China and they continue to engage with fans on social media. So the opportunity came up for the league to come to the Macau Sands to play games. It's really a partnership between Sands China, my friend Patrick Deont had a lot to do with this, and also the NBA with Adam, you know, recommitting to playing games here. I couldn't be more excited that we're the first, since you know six years ago we're the first team picked to come back to Macau and play games here.
Why would China want the league back?
Why not? As I said there's a huge fan base in China and Chinese fans want to watch the best basketball and the NBA is the best basketball league in the world because the best players play in the league. You know, just this past summer you see some of the biggest stars in the NBA like LeBron, Steph Curry, Victor Wembanyama, Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, Anthony Edwards, they all came to China and the fans loved it, huge welcome. So for the fans to be able to engage with the players here physically, see the games live, it's a treat for the fans. So why not?
Balancing commercial interest, political risk? How did you prepare your team to make the trip back to China?
Well, for me, there's really not a lot of preparation for our team. You know why? Because our mindset is very international. The Brooklyn Nets is a very international organization. Our coach is Spanish. Our GM is from New Zealand. Our CEO who runs the business side is from Israel. And look at our rookie class. Five among the five guys, we have Russian, we have French, we have two Israelis, and then we have who will be playing this weekend. So we're a very international team and for us, if there's any opportunity for us to play internationally, we put up our hand. So this is a thrill for me personally to kind of come home and be able to participate in this great event here.
I have so many signed items. Also coming home legend, Mario Ho, son of late casino tycoon Stanley Ho, who recently joined a consortium which purchased the Boston Celtics for $6.1 billion.
