VOA常速英语2007-US Professional Basketball League Promotes Sport

By Sam Beattie
Beijing
24 October 2007
 

The game of basketball has become big business in China, involving media, merchandising, and marketing¹. According to the National Basketball Association -- the U.S. professional league known as the NBA -- 83 percent of Chinese between the ages of 15 and 24 are NBA followers². And as Sam Beattie reports from Beijing, the NBA is capitalizing on this growing market.

A nationwide 2-on-2 competition is what the National Basketball Association calls a grassroots marketing campaign.

With more than 35,000 participants in 112 cities across the country, NBA officials say the U.S. basketball league is getting its message across. NBA China's Managing Director, Mark Fischer, says, "It serves a variety of purposes, but certainly the main reason behind everything we do here is to promote the game of basketball. We are certainly promoting the NBA brand and we are delivering value back to the fans and our partners."

Players, like Dong Jun, can also see the potential. "China has many people, it's a big market for the NBA. Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian and Wang Zhi Zhi are all playing in NBA. They are like the dragon head leading us basketball enthusiasts," he said.

Professional basketball players from China were first signed to compete on NBA courts in 2001. But basketball has been making inroads here for decades.

The NBA has held exhibition matches in China since the 1970s. Superstar Yao Ming remembers looking at the NBA from the outside. He says, "Looking back to when I was playing in the Chinese Basketball Association, its true we learned a lot from the NBA. We needed to learn new things including management operations and marketing. We learned a lot from the NBA about this."

Now Yao is an NBA icon³.

Yao organized charity matches, which the NBA says have helped its rapid expansion in China. And NBA products are now for sale in thousands of locations across China. The league has recorded triple-digit growth in sales here over the past five years.

The basketball association has also allied⁴ with official athletic⁵ organizations to better promote the game.

The NBA's Mark Fischer says China has become the league's most important and developed market outside the U.S. Fischer says, "We hope, in collaboration⁶ with the Chinese authorities, the China sport ministry⁷ and the CBA to one day be involved with the league here in the professional league."

Chinese athletic officials say they have as many basketball players as the entire population of the United States -- some 300 million and growing. It is the size of this potential market that keeps the NBA playing offense⁸ in China.

1 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

2 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

3 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

4 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

5 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

6 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

7 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

8 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。