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NBA partners up with sneaker brand in China other than Nike or Adidas [The Oregonian, Portland, Ore.]
[October 21, 2014]

NBA partners up with sneaker brand in China other than Nike or Adidas [The Oregonian, Portland, Ore.]


(Oregonian (Portland, OR) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 21--The NBA announced its new marketing and merchandising partner in China last week.

It may have been more interesting, though, what company the league did not name as its partner.

The winner: Anta Sports Products Limited, a sneaker brand based with operations centers in Jinjiang and Xiamen in China's Fujian Province.

While the name "Anta" may not move the needle in the United States, it is among the largest shoe brands in China. (It also owns sneaker brand Fila.) But the company, along with Chinese brands Li Ning and Peak, trails the country's number one athletic shoe brand, Nike. (Li Ning used to have its North American headquarters in Portland; the shoe designer for Li Ning's biggest public face, Dwyane Wade, still lives in Portland.) But the NBA bypassed Nike and Adidas to form its alliance with Anta, apparently believing that increasing the size of its brand in the world's most populous country would have more legitimacy if it is aligned with a company based there rather than one that happens to sell its products there.



NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Anta sports chief executive Ding Shizhong announced the partnership last week at a news conference in Beijing. They were joined by former NBA players Sam Perkins and Kevin Garnett, a one-time key Adidas endorser who closed out his career with Anta.

Anta will launch a complete line of Anta and NBA co-branded league and team-identified footwear and accessories, available in more than 2,000 Anta stores around the country, and at Anta's official online stores. The company is also expected to co-promote several NBA-related events in China.


More than 300 million people in China play basketball, making it the most popular team sport in a country of 1.3 billion people.

"The NBA and Anta share a common goal to grow the game of basketball and inspire a healthy, active lifestyle," said Silver. "This partnership will provide our fans in China with NBA branded footwear and accessories and more ways to connect with their favorite teams." Of Nike's $27.8 billion in revenue for fiscal year 2014, $2.6 billion came from China, a 5 percent increase over the year before.

-- Allan Brettman ___ (c)2014 The Oregonian (Portland, Ore.) Visit The Oregonian (Portland, Ore.) at www.oregonian.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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