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Earlier this week, the NBA Milwaukee Bucks signed Yi Jianlian, their first-round draft pick. Yi is a superstar in China, and will open new possibilities for Wisconsin businesses and Chinese businesses.
THE PROMISE OF YI IS GREEN
By Don Walker, Milwaukee JOURNAL SENTINEL www.jsonline.com
The signing of Yi Jianlian means one thing to the Milwaukee Bucks, the NBA, regional business leaders with designs on China's economy, and the Chinese basketball star himself.
Potential.
If Yi is successful as a star in the NBA, it could translate into more marketing opportunities for the franchise, the NBA, and the businesses that see China as the next big step.
For the Bucks, it's an opportunity to generate more advertising revenue, the sale of merchandise, increased ticket sales, and increased corporate sponsorships.
For the league, it's a chance to market another international player to corporate sponsors, both in China and in the United States.
In Milwaukee, Yi's name already has opened doors for businesses that want to get into the Chinese market but have had trouble connecting with investors who knew little about Milwaukee.
It's Yi's new home now.
At a teleconference Wednesday, Bucks Vice President Ron Walters said the business potential Yi brings to the Bucks and the league was just beginning to play out.
"It's something we are very excited about". said Walker.
"Our exposure will go up added Senator Herb Kohl (D-Wisconsin), owner of the Bucks.
Walker said he anticipated that a significant number of Bucks games would be broadcast in China. Like the TV deals with U.S. networks, broadcast revenue is shared equally among NBA teams.
However, that does not preclude the Bucks from reaching out to Chinese companies who might want to advertise when the Bucks and Yi are on TV in China.
John Steinmiller, the Bucks' vice president of business operations, said, "The signing of Yi has been a good one-day event for our sales people."
He said his sales associates noticed increased activity and increases in Bucks' ticket packages because of YI.
For the NBA and the Bucks, the Chinese market is enormous. According to the NBA, more than 1.2 billion people watched NBA programming last season.
Online, as much as 20% of the traffic on nba.com comes from China.
The NBA has partnerships in China with Adidas, Amway, Anheuser -Busch,Coc-Cola, DHL, EA Sports, Gatorade, Haier, Lenovo, Li-Ning, McDonalds, Mongolian milk, Motorola, Nike and Spalding. Any one of those companies looms as a potential business parter with the Bucks.
Yi has endorsement deals with Nike, Coca-Cola, and Yili, a Chinese milk and dairy company.
While the Bucks and the league begin the process of evaluating what they have in Yi as a marketer and endorser, local business leaders have already seen results. Mike Mervis, a spokesman for businessman and philantrophist Joe Zilber, said Zilber's plan to redevelop the old Pabst Brewery near the Bradley Center includes the creation of an international trade center.
According to Mevis, the trade center will have a sizeable Chinese component. But until Yi was taken sixth by the Bucks in the June NBA draft, Chinese businessment knew little about Milwaukee.
"It has been a huge boon for us and it added credibility to the project,"
Mervis said.
Bob Kraft servers as co-chair of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce China Council.
A strong proponent of increased ties with China and its booming economy, Kraft said the Bucks did an excellent job of landing Yi.
"This is huge for the Milwaukee Bucks," Kraft Said. "It puts Milwaukee on the map."
(In a related story appearing elsewhere in the Journal Sentinel, a leader of the Republican delegation to the Wisconsin State Legislature asked Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle, a Democrat, to cancel a trade mission to China. Doyle will be traveling to China and Japan September 7 through 18.
The Republicans, who control the Assembly, are stalling passage of the state budget, which is two months overdue. Democrats conrol the Senate.
In response, a key Democratic member of the Assembly said, "You know, they have telephones and the Internet in China."
THE PROMISE OF YI IS GREEN
By Don Walker, Milwaukee JOURNAL SENTINEL www.jsonline.com
The signing of Yi Jianlian means one thing to the Milwaukee Bucks, the NBA, regional business leaders with designs on China's economy, and the Chinese basketball star himself.
Potential.
If Yi is successful as a star in the NBA, it could translate into more marketing opportunities for the franchise, the NBA, and the businesses that see China as the next big step.
For the Bucks, it's an opportunity to generate more advertising revenue, the sale of merchandise, increased ticket sales, and increased corporate sponsorships.
For the league, it's a chance to market another international player to corporate sponsors, both in China and in the United States.
In Milwaukee, Yi's name already has opened doors for businesses that want to get into the Chinese market but have had trouble connecting with investors who knew little about Milwaukee.
It's Yi's new home now.
At a teleconference Wednesday, Bucks Vice President Ron Walters said the business potential Yi brings to the Bucks and the league was just beginning to play out.
"It's something we are very excited about". said Walker.
"Our exposure will go up added Senator Herb Kohl (D-Wisconsin), owner of the Bucks.
Walker said he anticipated that a significant number of Bucks games would be broadcast in China. Like the TV deals with U.S. networks, broadcast revenue is shared equally among NBA teams.
However, that does not preclude the Bucks from reaching out to Chinese companies who might want to advertise when the Bucks and Yi are on TV in China.
John Steinmiller, the Bucks' vice president of business operations, said, "The signing of Yi has been a good one-day event for our sales people."
He said his sales associates noticed increased activity and increases in Bucks' ticket packages because of YI.
For the NBA and the Bucks, the Chinese market is enormous. According to the NBA, more than 1.2 billion people watched NBA programming last season.
Online, as much as 20% of the traffic on nba.com comes from China.
The NBA has partnerships in China with Adidas, Amway, Anheuser -Busch,Coc-Cola, DHL, EA Sports, Gatorade, Haier, Lenovo, Li-Ning, McDonalds, Mongolian milk, Motorola, Nike and Spalding. Any one of those companies looms as a potential business parter with the Bucks.
Yi has endorsement deals with Nike, Coca-Cola, and Yili, a Chinese milk and dairy company.
While the Bucks and the league begin the process of evaluating what they have in Yi as a marketer and endorser, local business leaders have already seen results. Mike Mervis, a spokesman for businessman and philantrophist Joe Zilber, said Zilber's plan to redevelop the old Pabst Brewery near the Bradley Center includes the creation of an international trade center.
According to Mevis, the trade center will have a sizeable Chinese component. But until Yi was taken sixth by the Bucks in the June NBA draft, Chinese businessment knew little about Milwaukee.
"It has been a huge boon for us and it added credibility to the project,"
Mervis said.
Bob Kraft servers as co-chair of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce China Council.
A strong proponent of increased ties with China and its booming economy, Kraft said the Bucks did an excellent job of landing Yi.
"This is huge for the Milwaukee Bucks," Kraft Said. "It puts Milwaukee on the map."
(In a related story appearing elsewhere in the Journal Sentinel, a leader of the Republican delegation to the Wisconsin State Legislature asked Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle, a Democrat, to cancel a trade mission to China. Doyle will be traveling to China and Japan September 7 through 18.
The Republicans, who control the Assembly, are stalling passage of the state budget, which is two months overdue. Democrats conrol the Senate.
In response, a key Democratic member of the Assembly said, "You know, they have telephones and the Internet in China."