NBA Superfan Challenge Gives Fans Access to Pre-season Tour
Digital Contest Will Give Two Winners Behind-the-Scenes Access to NBA Players Like Yao Ming and Tour Events
SHANGHAI (AdAgeChina.com) – The National Basketball Association is reaching out to sports fans with an interactive campaign to promote next month's NBA China Games 2010. In a pre-season publicity tour, the Houston Rockets, including local hero Yao Ming, will play two games against the New Jersey Nets in Beijing and Guangzhou.
The Rockets and Nets will play in Beijing on Oct. 13 at the Wukesong Arena and in Guangzhou on Oct. 16 at the Guangzhou International Sports Arena.
The week-long tour includes community and charity events, basketball development programs, player appearances, and fan promotions likely to attract viewers across China, where basketball has a long history. The sport dates back a century to an era when American missionaries turned up with a Bible in one hand and a basketball in the other to lure young Chinese to church.
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In a 2 paragraph response (a minimum of 5 sentences for each paragraph), answer the following questions. In paragraph # 1, discuss the promotion that fans will have the opportunity to enter. Do you think the promotion has fan appeal? Why or why not? In your opinion, what aspect of the promotion do you think will be the most attractive to fans? Be specific with your thoughts. In paragraph # 2, discuss the NBA's challenge to appeal to a diverse target market in China, which has over 300 million basketball fans, according to CBA (China Basketball Association) estimates. By doing this big promotion, are they going about tackling the challenge in the right way? Why or why not? Do you think other strategies should be tried? Be specific with your thoughts.
Please sign your name to the bottom of your blog entry.
The promotion that fans have the opportunity to enter is a digital contest. The contest winners will get behind the scene access to NBA players like Yao Ming and tour events. This promotion is very appealing to fans because it is giving fans an opportunity to get closer to their hero’s or to people that they strive to be like. The aspect that seems the most appealing to the winners would be the trip to China. Not only do they get to follow their favorite players but they get to do so in a beautiful place.
ReplyDeleteI believe that having this event in China appeals to the Chinese fans as well. Since China is hosting this event it is in a way marketing China as a good place to travel because people might go to watch even if they don’t win the contest. I think that this event is being handled the right way because it is appealing to more than one culture. Other strategies would be to have multiple winners in multiple countries, to raise awareness everywhere.
-matthew arnold
I think that it is a good idea for NBA to start pre-season games in China. This is a great way to get new fans. Because there taking the NBA overseas they are appealing to a bigger crowd. One big aspect of these pre-season games is the fact that Yao Ming will be playing. Because he is from china it may attract more people to watch the event.
ReplyDeleteI think that this idea is the best way to get more fans in China. Basketball is one of the biggest sports in China. So with all the player appearances and promotions it is the best way to market themselves to the Chinese fans. The NBA is moving their franchise in a positive way. The NBA is definitely tackling this barrier the right way.
Abel Henok
The National Basketball Association is reaching out to sports fans with an interactive campaign to promote next month’s NBA china games 2010.I think that this is great because it can show how great the NBA is and demonstrate that it can indeed go global! Another benefactor is that it can strengthen the relationship between China and the U.S. The week long tour includes community and charity events, basketball development games, player appearances, and fan promotions guaranteed to attract viewers across china! This effective strategy to bring in and or maintain the current basketball fan population of china which is 300 million seems to be working very efficiently and will hopefully keep working well. Thus U.S. sports will become more popular in foreign countries and they wont be so alien to them. Eventually that leads to the U.S. playing such sports as basketball and football around the world!
ReplyDeleteIn china there is going to be an online contest that is going to take place. It is for fans who love the game of basketball. Fans will be allowed to submit a video via online to NBA website. The video should include how much the players love the game and how they show it on the video. After all videos are submitted there will be two people picked from them the winners get to spend the week with an NBA player the week that they have the games in China. I think this contest has appeal because who doesn’t want to spend a day with an NBA player that is something that even people in America would like the chance to do. I think the biggest part will be that you get to spend a day with someone who plays in the NBA regardless of going to the games and such but you will get to meet the people you are watching play on TV.
ReplyDeleteThe NBA now has a new partnership with the CBA to help the fan base of the NBA and grant more people in China the chance to watch and participate in parts of their favorite sport even though it is from America. The NBA is tackling this in the right way by holding games in China to allow fans to go to and experience just what the NBA is like while also getting to watch hometown superstar Yao Ming. I think the only thing they should do different is schedule event like this more often through the year.
-thomas baird
The NBA super fan challenge which took place in 2009 in China was very exciting from just hearing the promotions. This event had a large fan appeal, since it was mainly for residence of China it had a very large fan base. This event appealed to fans because of the interactive tour, meeting players watching games and more. The thing that brought in the most interest was most likely the chance to meet the players themselves, and for a diehard fan of basketball it doesn’t get better than that.
ReplyDeleteDoing this challenge in China was very difficult for the NBA, while it may seem that it would be easy to find people willing to try to win with the hundreds of millions of basketball fans in the country, having that many lowered their appeal to a chance to win. I think they are doing it right because this has many different events to take part in. I think another strategy that should be used would just to be have a large pool of selections and winners which would give the buyers more hope.
Andrew Frawley
The China Basket Ball Association, along with the National Basketball Association, is offering a “Superfan” deal. The deal is that there will be two winners and those winners will be able to shadow their favorite players in China. The China games will involve multiple games and conferences. As a fan this prize would be awesome. This is a good idea because it gets fans excited for basketball in the off season. To enter the contest you must submit a video showing your passion towards basketball.
ReplyDeleteThe promotion is a good idea to attract fans. Even if a fan does not win they have knowledge about the games and will probably try to watch it on television. Other promotions should also be used because this contest only allows two fans to win. The “Superfan” concept is a good one but there is such a slim chance to win. Another way to promote the games would be to just sell a four pack of tickets, air fair included, in which a family or group of friend could attend the games. Basketball has become a worldwide sport and these ways of promotion are working well!
Maggie Sawyers
The one if the promotions that the fans will go see is Yao Ming. He is there idol. I think this will have a big effect on the Chinese people. If Yao Ming is sponsored or endorsing company all of those 300 mill fans will see it. I think the promotion that will most likely buy is the Yao Ming jerseys.
ReplyDeleteI think that the promoters in the game in china should endorse all the players. Like at breaks show Yao Ming shaving on the big screen. This will draw the audience in and every one will see that. The endorsements will be their most effective way to promote companies in china. Companies will profit greatly from this game.
Tommy Sklopan
i think this a great way to show fan apeal. Especially when someone from their hometown will get to play. If the NBA gets to do this often they will likely succeed in their market. Having a global market sky rockets from average market to a higher fan base market. If the NBA goes to other country most likely after their done and their back in the united states chances are that other people from around the globe will go and see them play.
ReplyDeletei think if the NBA goes to china its a a huge challenge for the CBA because of their athletes. i think what they should do is go to china when its not basketball season and have a friendly match that way the NBA nor the CBA loses fans. if they do end up doing that they will attract more fans. some people in china are die hard fans and they would likely end up not watching the NBA games because of the CBA. what they should not do is have two games at the same time. IF the NBA and the CBA play at the same time they will not have the high fan appeal as they would normally will if they didnt.
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ReplyDeleteThe basketball fans in China are getting a rare and extraordinary chance. The winners of this promotion will be able to meet the players of the Houston Rockets and the New Jersey Nets! Not only will they meet them, they will also get to talk to the players and chill with them for as long as they are in China. This must definitely have massive fan appeal. What sports fan wouldn’t want to meet some great players? This is especially amazing for the fans in China who are so far from the NBA and probably never get the chance to even attend a game. The most attractive part of this is probably to be able to meet people who would normally unattainable for the average Chinese citizen.
ReplyDeleteThe challenge NBA China has is the competition with other, more local sports. This can be a very good promotion, but I don’t think this will solve their problems. This promotion is attraction people who are already fans of basketball. What they need to do is attract new fans, people who are more into badminton or swimming or something. They need to increase their fan consumption, not just stimulate it. I believe they should try other things as well, such as free tickets to people who don’t normally don’t watch or attend CBA games.
-Dil Amerkhail
I think the fans will enjoy and have fun watching the games and activities they are going to do. Even though its not famous team’s lots of people will show up then Yao Ming his fans will definitely go since it’s in China. I think when they do the challenges for fans that will get people excited to want to see, because the people who enters wants to know if they win and its an exciting event they are including in the whole event. Then the opponent is the New Jersey Nets they are not that famous but they have enough fans to keep them hyped, they also have popular/good players on the team. At the end of this whole event including the challenges they will make lots of money and most likely the fans would be glad they wasted that much money to go see the event.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely this event is included with the whole marketing. It’s going to be a huge event with LOTS of people/fans there. I think they will do the challenge right after the games because some fans will leave because most likely they have a job to go back to. So if they don’t do that then they will lose people. Not only that but then they have the fans that will win the challenge and they will be there longer.
-Daisha Acevedo
The promotion of the NBA to give a fan the opportunity to meet and interact with superstars like Yao Ming, it is very appealing. It is something that is rarely done in the US with any professional sport. One aspect of the promotion that is the most appealing to the fans is the chance to meet Yao Ming. He is one of the best NBA players to come out of China. Not only that, you get to meet the rest of the team. that is pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteThe NBA has a lot of challenges to appeal Chinese people, especially teenagers to watch their basketball games. 300 million people watch the NBA, but China has over 1.3 BILLION people, so 300 million seems like a small number. they have to do a better job of getting people to watch the games. by doing this promotion they are getting people to be interested in the NBA, but they need to do more. I think other strategies should be used because this promotion will not bring another 300 million people to watch the basketball games.
Jaime Avila
The promotion that NBA China is offering is amazing, a chance to meet your favorite players and go behind the scenes, attend the srcimmages and so much more. The most interesting part I would think is meeting the players at the airport. The way to enter the competition is cool too, making a video about your passion for basketball, and possibly winning free tickets and getting to shadow the players. Whoever wins this competition would be filled with excitement and would have a great time with the other winner. Two people have the chance for the experience of a lifetime.
ReplyDeleteI think NBA China(CBA)is going about their business in a great way. Compeitions and lotteries are always fun and exciting. People are always testing their luck and trying to win it all. Theres always another option when it comes to marketing. They could've toned down the winnings or only had one winner. CBA went all the way with this competition, and hopefully it pays out.
Luke G
NBA China developed the “SuperFan Challenge” which will give two lucky winners an opportunity to socialize with the team member while they are in China. They also get exclusive access and behind-the-scenes tours. I feel like it has a lot of appeal, fans will definitely be interested in this. I know that if I followed the NBA like that and like a certain player that much, I would be very interested in this. I think hanging out with the team, and meeting them at the airport is going to be the part that interests fans the most because of the excitement they’ll receive moments before they know they’re going to meet the team. I would also be excited about the VIP access and behind-the-scene tours. Overall, I think this is a great promotion.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest challenge that the NBA faces is that basketball isn’t the native sport of China, and certainly isn’t as popular as it is in the states. In China, their biggest sports include Tennis, Badmiton, Soccer, and Swimming. Competing with all those sports is a big deal for the NBA. I think the “SuperFan Challenge” is a good way to tackle this problem. It shows the interest the NBA has in establishing a high fan-base in China. Other strategies include competing with the CBA often, who knows, maybe someday there will be an international basketball competition like the FIFA World Cup.
Luis Reyes
The NBA is holding a huge contest for China. The NBA is doing this because one of the larger Chinese Sponsors, Tim Chen, is dropping the NBA. Because of this, the NBA is now having to come up with a promotion to get the Chinese back into watching basketball. The form of promotion they are using a promotion where the NBA fans in China will be allowed to enter a once in a life time contest. If they win this contest, then they will have access to a pre-season tour, meeting the Houston Rockets and the New Jersey Nets. This is a great idea, because now the fans will be interactive and much more in to the NBA. The most effective part about this promotion is that now everyone in China that likes the NBA will have a chance to meet two of the professional teams. Most people even in the United States don’t get chances like this. Whoever the two lucky people are will now go watch them in games, meet them in person, greet them at the airport, go to VIP events, and more.
ReplyDeleteOne of the larger difficulties about appealing to the basketball fans is getting them interested again. This is why the NBA has created a promotion to get the basketball fans involved in the game. Doing this is the right thing for the NBA to do. They are going in the right direction, because now millions of millions of people are going to want to enter this contest, and also watch basketball more. The only problem with this form of promotion is the fact that some of the people entering this contest will only enter to win the prize. If the consumers that entered the contest do not win, then some of them will just go back to not watching basketball. There should be a more long-term promotion, like if you watch all of the games for the Houston Rockets that season, and you can tell them something about each and every game, then you will be entered in a contest to hang out with the team. This way, they will have to watch the NBA, instead of just entering a contest and then stopping.
NBA China
ReplyDeleteWhile the NBA season is gearing up to start, the biggest target market in preseason is China. The NBA will hold preseason games in China with the New Jersey Nets and Houston Rockets. The promotion for the fans is that two winners will be given a backstage tour of the week. I think it is nice to explore other demographics like China and get a wider fan base. The promotion gives the fans a bit of incentive to go to the game and enjoy the sport of basketball.
I think there will be substantial fan appeal due to the love of basketball in China. Yao Ming will be there as well as other superstars to promote NBA. I think this is a great chance for basketball to get bigger in other countries and make it more of a global game. The fans in China are great, so I have no doubt the NBA will hit big with this promotion. This will probably capture the attention of children across China and perhaps create the next Yao Ming.
Joey "Diesel" Dolan
The NBA is giving China a great offer. Meeting your favorite players, going behind the scenes, attending games and scrimages and so much more. Many people dream of doing that. Its a great promotion option for China. Meeting the players is one of the biggest things. Most people only dream of meeting their favorite basketball players.
ReplyDeleteI think the NBA is doing a good job at promoting this product to Chinese basketball players. 300 million estimated fans is alot. If the NBA gains alot of the people they will make alot of money. They are doing a good job at carrying this out. Great promotion with connecting the fans with the players.
ANDREW FOSTER
I think that the NBA promotion, in China, has the fan’s appeal. The fans appeal to this kind of stuff because it brings the world’s best basketball players to a country that hasn’t had much basketball talent except Yao Ming. In China, basketball is a very big thing. The number of people that are NBA fans, in China, is equal to the number of people that live in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteThe NBA has a challenge with this promotion. They need to make it appeal to a fan base that includes 300 million fans. The NBA wants to get the China fans really involved with this fun promotion. I think having a couple of NBA games in China is a good way to promote something. A better way in promoting basketball, in China, is to hold the NBA all-star game there. Fans are always interested in watching a basketball game or two but an all-star game is another story. An all-star game is filled with excitement, fun, thrill, suspense, amazement, crazy and intriguing. All in all, this is a great way to promote anything that’s basketball related in China because the basketball fan base there, is enormous.
Abdullah Gardezi
I think that the promotions for the fans will be: giving away free stuff at the beginning of the game and just having the chance to be in a once in a life time event. I think that promotions for the fans would be appealing, because the fans would feel that they are going to see a great game and they could have the chance to meet Yao Ming. I think that the promotions for the fans are great, because if you’re really into the basketball stuff this could be a really great experience to see of the best players in the world. The fans would be very excited to see Yao Ming and have the chance to meet the players. This is a once in a lifetime event and if you’re a big basketball fan, this event would be great to attend.
ReplyDeleteThe NBA is trying to make the basketball world a huge success in the whole world, but mainly China. I think that the NBA is doing this so that the NBA leagues would raise more money and have a big salary on the all the players. I think that NBA is going the right way, because this could be a big chance for the NBA to become even bigger in the entire world. I think that there should be other strategies in order to promote the NBA, for example, making a bigger advertisement on TV and the internet, and having games outside of the US. The NBA could have a big success on going worldwide, because the NFL is not a big thing outside of the world and that’s how the NBA could become bigger.
Anna Vallejo
I think that this promotion of the nba playing some preseason games in china the fans will like it since not every day in china do they get to see a nba live. Also when the NHL and mlb nlayed games over in other countries over the past few years they seemed to like it a lot of people came to those games. I think the nba will just like to see yoa ming live.
ReplyDeleteI think the nba is targeting it in the right they should start with the preseason and see how it goes than think about playing more games over there like next year or later in the future. Maybe even play a regular season game over there like the nhl when the played in Sweden and Stockholm. I think the nba should have the lakers over there since kobe is big in china so they can see there favorite player and see how there reaction. So then if they like it bring everyteam over one day in the future. China would like to see more than only their players
KEITH KRAUSE
I think that the NBA is doing a great job attracting new and old fans back to basketball. The fans will love this. This promotion is the best idea I've ever heard. I think that the fans will love what the NBA has planned for 2 lucky chinapeople. Thats the best thing to promote fan worship.
ReplyDeleteThe NBA is doing a fantastic job in reeling in China to make basketball its number 1 sport.The NBA is doing such a fantastic job, it leaves little to be considered. If you even had 1% chance to meet your chinese heroes, wouldn't you take that? So yes, the NBA knows how to reach the chewy center of a basketball fan's soul.
Danny JAM
Basketball is loved by a lot, and the promotion will be great for fans who’d like to meet star basketball players like, Yao Ming. I’m not much of a basketball fan at all, but others are and they’d love this opportunity. The aspect of the promotion that will attract most fans is meeting a star player. That’s everyone’s dream for their number one sport, to meet a star that plays it for your team or any other. It’ll also be great for people in China to see American basketball because that’s a rare opportunity for them.
ReplyDeleteFor the NBA, it’ll be hard to make this appeal to China because they’re different from us. I think they should’ve looked at it differently though and asked China what their opinion on a contest should be. So it’s not really the right way of approaching it. They should’ve had let them meet a more bigger star like Kobe Bryant or LeBron James because it’s always more fun to meet a huge star of different diversity like for in Chinas instance meeting a American Star.
Jeremy Wagner
I think that the promotion will let fan me be more interactive. Also I think it will let them think there are apart of the game. They may never know who will get an opportunity to go meet the team or to just be on the half time show. Most people don't like to be embarrass in front of people they don't know. Then other people don't care they just want to have a good time and enjoy life.
ReplyDeleteMost definitely this thing with china has a lot to do with marketing. China is the biggest support to basketball. I think they are doing the right thing by going to china and promoting stuff over there because they have the biggest fan base for basketball. Also I think that they should promote it in other countries. I also think if they start to promote globally that they should make it easy for people to buy there product instead of paying $100 to $300 for team wear.
-Daniel smith
This year the NBA has decided to host a string of basketball games in China. I think that this will appeal to fans because, it gives fans in China a chance to experience what they have been missing in the U.S. If I were a fan in China, I would be very excited to hear about this. I also think that the most appealing publicity to fans will be, the chance to see NBA stars and get up and close to them. This is a big move for the NBA and it should pay off well for them.
ReplyDeleteI think the NBA has a big challenge in pleasing the fans in a different country and making sure that they are satisfied. But with this event I think that they have found a soulution for this problem. This event to me is the best way of tackling this problem. What better way of handeling a problem in another country, than by taking it to that country. Although I do think that they should have more events in China, to make sure that this problem does not worsen.
-Brandon Smith
it is a digital contest. alot people will be interested in doing because basketball is world wide sport. even though only two people win alot of people enter the contest which they would know the schedual and matches.
ReplyDeleteI think the NBA is doing a good job at promoting this product to Chinese basketball players. 300 million estimated fans is alot. If the NBA gains alot of the people they will make alot of money. They are doing a good job at carrying this out. Great promotion with connecting the fans with the players.
The expansion of the NBA in China is a excellent move for the NBA. This will most definitely make more money for the league. Chinese basketball heroes such as Yao Ming from the Houston Rockets make popularity of basketball and china boost. China is a huge market because of the population. The promotion is definitely a benefit.
ReplyDeleteThe promotion is absolutely a plus for the NBA. The promotion basically says that services of the NBA will be marketing across China. This will bring more attention to the sport and make it more global. This is a great move.