This year, the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) will stage
its All-Star Game in Nanjing, Jiangsu
Province on March 5 after the 40th round of the regular season
comes to an end.
According to Li Jinsheng, the league's spokesperson, to avoid
simply replicating the way the US' NBA works, the Chinese league
will introduce a wuxia spirit into its All-Star Game.
Wuxia is a distinct genre of Chinese literature and
filmmaking that is popular among younger generations. Wu
means martial arts and xia means chivalry, and
wuxia stories usually involve virtuous characters
undergoing arduous trials for a noble cause, alongside improbable
fight scenes.
"The CBA aims to establish a unique and attractive brand by
injecting the wuxia concept into its All-Star Game. We
made a Flash film depicting players as kung fu masters to
promote it in a fresh and new way," said Zhang Qing, vice director
of Zenith Media, the CBA's publicity company.
Off court, the all-star players will also practice principles of
chivalrousness by participating in public welfare work, such as
teaching basketball in schools for children of migrant workers.
Zhang explained that they hope to cooperate with China Youth
Development Foundation to combine basketball with public
service. "Children of migrant workers often long for attention. To
learn basketball from the stars is conducive to both their physical
and psychological health."
To live up to the new season's slogan of "My Team, My Game, My
CBA" and include more fans, the organizers have invited some to
attend the All-Star Game for free.
"One of the most obvious advantages of the CBA is that it feels
a strong affinity for domestic fans, because they can enjoy
themselves in various activities held by the association. Although
we are incapable of competing with the NBA in technical fields like
lighting, we will exert every effort to play to our strengths,"
Zhang added.
With only several days remaining, a lack of sponsorship is still
hindering the upcoming All-Star Game. An anonymous official at the
Jiangsu Provincial Sports Bureau said that so far they couldn't
find sponsors for the game or the teams and that "the CBA should
take the blame."
The association had taken a long time to choose between Xinjiang
and Jiangsu to host the game before coming to a decision in
February. Xinjiang had promised that it would have no trouble in
finding money, but the CBA decided against it on the grounds that
it would be harder to get to and had a harsher climate.
"If the association had given us three months to plan, we would
have been sure to make it the best game," said the official.
Other difficulties include CBA restrictions on sponsorship
sources. The host city is prohibited from deals with companies
involved in banking, beverages, sports goods and another four
categories of companies who have previously sponsored the
league.
In addition, the fact that, at time of going to press, CCTV
hadn't confirmed whether it would be broadcasting the game or
not?didn't help attract sponsors.
Some companies would have got involved with a view to using the
players' images to advertise their products. But the association
rules say that images of five players must be used alongside each
other on the game's publicity materials, but not used on other
products.
The Jiangsu official said the CBA had been overly optimistic
about the marketing value of the All-Star Game, since it started
much later than its US equivalent. Despite the excitement it has
created, basketball culture has not yet developed enough in China
to guarantee commercial interest.
Liao Shuhui, director of the Jiangsu Provincial Sports Bureau
Athletic Administration Center, also said, "We are not very
positive about the effect of the game."
While association and local officials struggle to secure
sponsorship, tickets for the game are selling like hot cakes, with
average 200 yuan (US$24) tickets selling out. The price of a VIP
package is 888 yuan (US$107).
Roster for the All-Star Game (voted by fans via sina.com and
released on February 25):
North:
Coach: Jiang Xingquan, Min Lulei
Forward: Jiao Jian (Beijing), Sun Jun (Jilin)
Center: Oyedeji Olumide (Beijing)
Guard: Guo Shiqiang (Liaoning), Zhang Yunsong (Beijing)
South:
Coach: Hu Weidong, Li Chunjiang
Forward: Liu Yudong (Bayi), Zhu Fangyu (Guangdong)
Center: Yi Jianlian (Guangdong)
Guard: Liu Wei (Shanghai), Hu Xuefeng (Jiangsu)
(China.org.cn by Li Xiao, March 2, 2005)
