ESPN in NBA China Investment

NEW YORK/BEIJING, January 15: ESPN has teamed with four
Chinese media companies to make a $253-million investment in NBA China, a new
entity to handle all of the basketball league’s activities in the lucrative
market.

ESPN, Bank of China Group Investment, Legend Holdings
Limited, Li Ka Shing Foundation and China Merchants Investments will
collectively make the $253-million investment, giving them an 11-percent stake
in NBA China.

“The opportunity for basketball and the NBA in China is simply
extraordinary,” said NBA Commissioner David Stern. “The expertise, resources
and shared vision of these immensely successful companies will help us to
achieve the potential we see in the region. The strategic investment from these
companies will allow us to continue working with the General Administration of
Sports and the Chinese Basketball Association to grow our sport and emphasize,
in both rural and urban Chinese communities, its contributions to fitness,
healthy lifestyle and an appreciation of teamwork.”

Tim Chen, the former CEO of Microsoft Greater China, joined
the NBA in October 2007 and will lead the new entity as its CEO. NBA China will
be governed by a Board of Directors that will include representatives of the
strategic investors as well as Indiana Pacers owner Herb Simon, Minnesota
Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor and NBA executives Adam Silver, the deputy
commissioner and COO; Heidi Ueberroth, the president of global marketing
partnerships and international business operations; and Stern.

The NBA currently has relationships with 51 Chinese
broadcasters, including a partnership of more than 20 years with CCTV. The
league has also organized hundreds of touring basketball events for fans and
currently maintains 16 marketing partnerships with Chinese-based corporations
and U.S.-based multinationals.

The NBA opened its Hong Kong office in 1992 and currently
employs 100 people in four offices in Greater China. The NBA became the first
American sports league to stage games in China in 2004 with the NBA China Games
2004 in Beijing and Shanghai. The league returned this season for NBA China
Games 2007, three preseason games played in Shanghai and Macau.

—By Mansha Daswani