Here are the top China sports business news stories you need to know from this week:

CBA Signs New Media Partners
Digital streaming platforms Youku and Migu are new media partners of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). Both platforms will live broadcast all CBA games. Furthermore, Youku will produce an interactive entertainment show, while Migu will stream the games in 4K. Read more on China Daily (English) and Netease (Chinese)

BMG Opens China Office
Bundesliga side Borussia VfL 1900 Mönchengladbach has officially opened its first China office. This opening marks the club’s first office to be opened outside of its native Germany. In addition, the club announced a grassroots partnership program with Suqian City (Jiangsu Province). Read more on Bundesliga’s Chinese Website

• Mailman Take: Besides Germany, China represents BMG’s main target market with a long-term strategic approach based on a sustainable grassroots model and local cultural immersion. The on-the-ground presence with an official office is the first major step for the club to cement their foothold in China. Bundesliga clubs have the strongest presence in mainland China with 4 official offices now open, and we expect to see more German club offices open very soon.

Weibo & CBA
The Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) has signed a strategic partnership with Chinese social media platform Weibo. The CBA plans to grow its presence further online, and by partnering with Weibo, they will have further access and information regarding its teams and players. Read more on Ecosports (Chinese)

Ticket Triumph for Damai
Damai Sports, the sports arm of the ticketing company Damai, will represent 16 CBA teams in their ticketing business for the 2018-2019 season. Compared to the 2017-2018 season, Damai Sports has gained a further six CBA-team partnerships. Read more on The Ticketing Business (English) and Business Times (Chinese)

• Mailman Take: One of the most important updates is that this year’s CBA will have 46 rounds of regular season games. More games per week, more sponsors, more playoff spots. Damai, as the leading ticketing platform in China, will have more chances to touch new customers and integrate online & offline services. Meanwhile, customers are looking forward to new technologies and a better experience such as paperless entry, face-ID recognition and more.

Continental Tires & CFA
The German company has renewed its partnership with the Chinese Football Association (CFA) regarding the sponsorship of Team China. The brand has been a partner of Team China since 2014. Continental Tires has extended its sponsorship with the CFA for four years, from 2018-19 to 2021-22. Read more on Sport Business (English) and Tencent (Chinese)

VIVB Nets Ganten Partnership
Chinese water brand Ganten has signed a 4-year Global Partnership with FIVB, the world governing body of volleyball and beach volleyball. The signing ceremony took place in Nagoya, Japan, where the 2018 FIVB Women’s Volleyball World Championships are taking place. Read more on FIVB (English) and Ecosports (Chinese)

Game On for Houston Rockets & Bilibili
NBA outfit Houston Rockets have teamed up with Chinese online entertainment platform Bilibili in a bid to expand their presence in esports. As part of the strategic partnership, the Rockets’ esports team, Clutch Gaming (CG), took on the Bilibili Gaming outfit in a friendly game. Read more on Sportspro (English) and Sohu (Chinese)

WCBA & BBMG
The Women’s Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA) announced a new Official Strategic Partner, BBMG Group, which will help develop and grow the women’s basketball league. BBMG has been a title sponsor of the Beijing Basketball Team for 10 years. Read more on Sina (Chinese)

FCB Announce China Tour
La Liga giants FC Barcelona have announced a tour of China and Japan next summer. After consecutive years travelling to the United States for the International Champions Cup (ICC), Barca will return to Asia for the first time since playing a friendly in Qatar in December 2016. Read more on China.org (English) and Sport163 (Chinese)

In Other News:

Fox Asia Acquires ‘Dunk of China’ Rights

Chinese online platform Youku and Fox Networks Group Asia have just reached an agreement which sees Fox Networks Group Asia acquire the worldwide rights to Youku’s original reality show ‘Dunk of China’. FNG Asia plans to localize and make regional versions of the show in other parts of the world outside the Chinese mainland. Read more on Huangqiu (Chinese)

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