Chinese Basketball Association Extends Infront Partnership

The Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) have today announced that they are to continue their partnership with Infront Sports and Media until 2017.

Infront are to continue its in-depth association with the CBA, salve and will continue to commercially develop the CBA League and be involved global sponsorship sales.

Infront will also handle media rights for all league games, aiming to raise awareness of the sport both inside and outside of China. As a result, Infront will continue to be involved in both the CBA League and Team China, with a view to bringing the best out of Chinese basketball.

The current agreement is an extension of the original deal signed in 2005 and has already helped realise the potential of the league. 

During their partnership, the CBA have had its number of sponsors increase from just nine in 2005/6 to twenty-seven in 2011/12, taking advantage of a global wish to be associated with China and its related growing markets. 

Infrontt have helped the marketing of the CBA league to the extent that the cumulative audience has risen by 130% to 725 million last year. Infront will be hoping to continue that work in the next five years, aiming to maintain the positive image of the CBA league while also increasing the quality and distribution of television output of the league. All of this is to ensure that the key priority – raising global awareness of the CBA league to bring in top international brands – is achieved.

Xin Lancheng, Vice President of the CBA, said “Over the past seven years, the CBA League has made significant progress across the board – in terms of the sportive performance, the commercial value and the social impact. Infront has been a key partner in this process and shares the association’s vision regarding the long-term development of the league. We are looking forward to partnering with Infront for the next five years and to further enhancing the league’s profile as well as repaying the fans, society and commercial partners for their consistent support.”

Meanwhile, Philippe Blatter, President and CEO of Infront said, “We are proud of the extension to our successful partnership with the CBA for both, Team China and now also the CBA League. China is a key market for sport and the Infront Group will, in partnership with the CBA, continue to develop and deliver superior value to its key properties for the ultimate benefit of the sport, the clubs, the players, the partners and the fans. With our international expertise and local know-how, we will also continue to pave the way for strong national and international partners to take advantage of an association with China’s top sport.”