[xlc0212]

> They have nothing to lose but incremental profits and in the long run China will lose.

I don’t understand this. They could lost all their market in China which is not a small number and in return, long-term financially, nothing. It is not like Chinese people can’t live without it. There are more than enough entertainments for Chinese people to enjoy.

[PenguinCoder]

At the rate they're making money (NBA), why does ADDITIONAL PROFIT matter ? We aren't 'the ferangi'; people are more important than profits, but American corporations seem to have ignored or forgotten that. Screw NBA market share, or financial well-being. Democracy and human rights are vastly more important!

[the_watcher]

NOTE: I think this has been handled incredibly poorly by the NBA and that Morey should have doubled down on his tweet, not caved.

That said, the reason additional profits matter is that 51% of the revenue (not profits) go to the players, and the salary cap is tied directly to total revenue. This was collectively bargained and cannot be changed without a renegotiation. A lot of decisions have been made making assumptions about revenue that include revenue from China. On the player side, the total amount of money available to them is directly impacted by how much money is generated in China.

All that said, the NBA and the players should absolutely speak out and dare the CCP to delete the NBA. It's the most popular sport in the country and they've spent years cultivating the relationship. People will notice if it disappears.

[TallGuyShort]

Sorry, but "why does the NBA (a large corporation employing many people) need to make more money?" comes off as a far more reasonable question to me than "why do professional American basketball players need to make more money?"

[the_watcher]

Sorry, wasn't clear and was really making two points that are tangentially related:

1 - highlighting that total revenue generated directly impacts the amount of money available to players (as in there is a legal document outlining this)

2 - Ownership groups and the league as a whole have made many decisions based on an assumption of 49% of future revenues generated, so reductions in that future revenue stream are a lot riskier than "we just won't make as much profit." It's possible that for some teams, the reduction in revenue could actually force them to operate substantially in the red.

Once again, just want to be clear that I'm just pointing out the actual financial situation and that I still think the NBA should and could call China's bluff. It would likely sting in the short term, but China has invested so much in building up the NBA domestically that it will be really difficult to just delete it without any kind of backlash.

Long-term, I imagine the NBA is going to put more resources into the Indian market to reduce their reliance on a single overseas market.

[trianglem]

On a tangent, what is "the ferangi"? Because that's what Indians call Europeans.

[rrix2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferengi

[PenguinCoder]

Sorry about that, I was unaware of that connotation. rrix2 is correct in the linked wiki - I meant Ferengi, the Star Trek aliens obsessed with profit above all else, and the subsequent greed.

[LanceH]

Not just the NBA, but every company owned by the 30 plus owners in the NBA could feel pressure.

[tomohawk]

Basketball is popular in China. The NBA is the premier league. It doesn't need China. If you want to see the best or play with the best, it will be the NBA. If the CCP (China Communist Party) wants to spoil the entertainment of the citizenry, that's their problem. The NBA can go right back into China whenever the winds change.

On the other hand, if the NBA doesn't stand up to China, a large part of their core audience will find something else to do.

[xlc0212]

This is another thing I feel uneasy about, this is just a basketball league, why does it have to force people to pick a side?

[kelnos]

This isn't specifically about a basketball league. This is a choice between believing in personal freedom of expression, versus allowing a repressive foreign government to censor people who are not their citizens, all in the name of profit.

[unityByFreedom]

Who upped the ante? One guy who tweeted something, or a government who blocked a whole industry? NBA isn't forcing anything. They would continue showing their programming in China if it were not blocked.

[realusername]

> This is another thing I feel uneasy about, this is just a basketball league, why does it have to force people to pick a side?

That question should be addressed to the Chinese government, they are the one wanting to block the league.

[14]

Well technically you don't have to choose a side you can choose to do nothing which is its own side in a way and has meaning and consequence to the general population. People know that rich and famous people, or people in power really have the most sway in matters. So we mere laypeople can decide that you either choose a side or you have chosen to side against us. If you were looking at a person who had the ability to help, but choose to do nothing can you not see how people can be upset with them? Again sure you can choose to do nothing but I won't like you, I might stop supporting you, or I may even work against you.

[cylinder]

People need to stop talking about China like it's a single unit and the government can control every single thing its people do. They threatened certain countries and yet tourist and student arrivals from China only increased. If they block NBA Chinese fans will still find a way to consume it.

[Lukeas14]

They'll find a way to consume it. But the NBA will probably make much more money through legitimate products in China than if Chinese fans are watching pirated streams over VPN and buying counterfeit, unlicensed jerseys.

[petre]

The jerseys are probably made in China anyway. Unlicensed = the NBA doesn't make money from license fees. Maybe wearing an NBA shirt in China would equate to wearing one with Winnie the Pooh?

[xlc0212]

Yes if the fans still wants it.