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by rm_-rf_slash 3779 days ago
Precisely. When dealing with a mercantilist market-state, the only advantage you have is to be unique and irreplaceable.

China could spend billions at the drop of a hat to create their own Chinese Basketball League, but one cannot mandate a LeBron James.
2 comments
dluan 3779 days ago
Not necessarily true, just look at soccer in China in the past two weeks. Just buy all the Lebron's until you figure out the template and can mass produce it.
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adventured 3779 days ago
They can't buy all the Lebrons. They don't want to play in China. During the last NBA strike problems, the same held true: nobody of consequence abandoned ship, they chose to wait it out.

The ~450 NBA players are set to make more than all the Fortune 500 CEOs combined in salary terms, with the new TV rights. China currently can't replicate everything that goes into paying for that (we're talking about $35 billion in salary in just the next 10 years). Buying a few star players won't elevate the overall league, it'll make the league a joke.

China has an economy that is about to be half the size of the US as they are forced to significantly devalue the yuan in the next 12-18 months, and their economy is sinking under a massive and perpetually expanding load of debt. They can't afford to play the game the way they used to, where they'd foolishly pay N times what something is worth just to make it happen. Those days are over, economic normalization is inbound (if they're lucky).

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eru 3779 days ago
> The ~450 NBA players are set to make more than all the Fortune 500 CEOs combined in salary terms, with the new TV rights.

Are you sure about that? How much do the CEOs make?

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jdminhbg 3779 days ago
The CSL isn't buying the Lebrons of soccer, though.

Edit to add: And there's more to a successful and interesting league than recognizable players; moreso in soccer than basketball (and even moreso in American football).

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dluan 3779 days ago
The amount of money being spent could definitely buy the Lebrons, though they aren't right now.
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sehr 3779 days ago
They are essentially doing that right now with soccer interestingly enough
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