The financial crisis has no doubt severely affected most sports franchises, and alternate sources of income have become a major priority in the off-season.

China is the world’s largest basketball market, and still one that is relatively untapped. Chinese companies have a warm spot for western sports teams and brands in their marketing mix. The number 1 foreign import that Chinese people can associate with is sports, and so a link and connection with these popular western sports brands give a high level of prestige and respect to any local brand that is seen in association with them. Some companies even go to questionable extents  to secure these high profile brand image boosts.

Even the NBA itself has entered many partnerships with local businesses in recent months. These sponsorships have helped them grow their brand with basketball tournaments, cheerleading competitions, and reality TV shows. The NBA was instrumental in helping Mengniu, the popular Chinese Dairy brand, regain some status after the Melamine incident had dropped consumer confidence to an all time low.

Li Ning, China’s most succesful sports apparel company, also has benefited greatly from sports marketing. Nike and Adidas being its main competitors, Li Ning went out and used most of its marketing Reminbi in sponsorship deals to attact NBA stars: Shaquille O’Neal (for 1.6 million dollars), Baron Davis, Jose Calderon and Damon Jones, as well as the whole Spanish Basketball National Team.

But what about the Washington Wizards? In Gilbert Arenas, the Wizards have one of the most marketable players in the league. Chinese fans already know him through his many baskebtall exploits and being on many Adidas Brotherhood adverts. But especially in China where the average young NBA fan is also very in tune with  technology/gaming/blogging – Gilbert Arenas with his quirky and very open and honest personality could be a mega star. Give Arenas more exposure in China, and there is no doubt that he will thrive and become an icon. Agent Zero – who may have seemed like a liability to the Wizards organization back at the peak of his blogging days, could very well be their window of opportunity in the world’s largest basketball market. Chinese NBA fans don’t follow teams, they follow players..specifically superstars with interesting personalities.

For NBA teams wanting to do business in China the possibilities are there and in such a huge market there will always be opportunities. The important thing is to remember what interests and excites average Chinese people. Teams really need to think about why Kobe is so much bigger than LeBron here, why someone like Damon Jones was the first NBA player to get a major China sponsorship deal, why Shane Battier was the face of the Peak brand.

NBA teams and players also need to be ready to go beyond the traditional marketing strategies if they want a true following in China. A simple brand association is no longer good enough to make major headlines – visits to China, donations in times of disasters (like the Sichuan earthquake), participation in grassroot programs and camps, China oriented charities, and special attention to the Chinese people will be ultimately what sways China. This is already one of the main reasons why the NBA is so ahead of other foreign sports leagues – they came here and have invested in the country for years. When David Stern first came to China some decades ago, he practically paid China to air its NBA games on national television. This is in stark contrast to the English Premiership that today no longer has any matches on national TV due to the large amount of money they have requested.

The NBA gave and gave and gave, and now its time for the NBA and its partners to reap the benefits.