Non vorremmo certo pensare male e pensare che ci sia un qualche interesse della lega anche in questo:
LeBron James’s first National Basketball Association championship would help add $4 billion in revenue from China for Nike Inc. (NKE), according to the first sports marketing employee in the country for the world’s largest sporting goods maker.
Adding a championship to a basketball resume that includes an Olympic gold medal in Beijing and two NBA Most Valuable Player awards is imperative for James, the 26-year-old Miami Heat forward, to achieve the marketing might of fellow Nike endorsers Michael Jordan, who won six titles with the Chicago Bulls, and Kobe Bryant, a five-time winner with the Los Angeles Lakers.
“LeBron is white-hot with the Chinese basketball-loving youth, but his popularity and influence outside of that circle is limited,” said Terry Rhoads, who left as Nike’s China sports marketing director in 2002 after eight years to form Shanghai- based Zou Marketing. “One reason is the lack of titles.”
Nike posted $1.96 billion in sales from China, the world’s most populous nation, in the 12 months through January. Rhoads said a “solid part” of that stems from basketball, without being more specific. A championship for James would allow him to take over for the 32-year-old Bryant as the company’s face in China, where Rhoads said it’s “easy to see” Nike’s revenue reaching $6 billion by 2020.
James earns about $30 million annually from endorsements with companies that include Nike, which counts China as its second-largest market behind the U.S.; McDonald’s Corp. (MCD), the world’s largest restaurant chain; and Coca-Cola Co. (KO), the world’s largest soft-drink maker.
Nike ‘Stronghold’
“If Kobe isn’t the king with Chinese consumers, LeBron could take over and continue to power Nike’s stronghold on China basketball,” Rhoads said in an e-mail.
James said a championship is his goal, no matter how it might help sponsorships.
“It would do everything for me, as far as an individual standpoint,” James told reporters before last night’s Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Bulls in Chicago. “I don’t care what it does marketing-wise. My marketing statement was in place for me as a professional.”
