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Beijing. After buying a share of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers and introducing little-league baseball to China, Jianhua “Kenny” Huang aims to transform professional basketball in his homeland.

As an investor in China’s National Basketball League, Huang says he’ll introduce cutting-edge management practices adopted from England’s Premier League football, the US National Football League, and other leading overseas competitions.

The new NBL also plans to promote home-grown talent, distinguishing itself from the dominant Chinese Basketball Association, where 19 of the 20 top scorers last year were foreigners.

“This is the first time private enterprise has been given the chance to reform a Chinese league,” Huang said by telephone from Cleveland, Ohio.

Huang had been relatively unknown outside business circles before becoming the public face of an investment group that last year snapped up 15 percent of LeBron James’ Cavaliers.

He has pledged to inject several million dollars per year into a new Chinese youth league, and also partners Chicago-based sports marketer Marc Ganis as China business representative for the New York Yankees.

Basketball is popular in China, especially among young urbanites with money to spend on tickets and merchandise. Yet while the CBA has produced talent such as Houston Rockets center Yao Ming, the league has yet to take off with the domestic audience.

Huang says the timing of his venture fits with a new government emphasis on broader public participation in sports. Having invested heavily in new venues, local officials are anxious for fans to fill seats, he says.

Huang’s company, QSL Sports, has signed a long-term contract to manage the league together with the CBA.

The NBL began as the semiprofessional lower tier of the 17-team CBA, but was cut loose and became independent after the CBA abolished promoting and demoting teams based on their performance.

The US National Basketball Association has also been an active supporter of Chinese basketball, but a league official said it had not sought a formal relationship with the NBL.

Huang says he will reinstate relegation and promotion, grouping the NBL’s clubs into an eight-team upper tier, and a 10-team lower one. Each season, the top two teams from the bottom will change places with the bottom two from the top, while the upper tier’s four best teams will compete in a playoff for the league title.

Teams will each be limited to two foreign players who must not be more than 201 centimeters tall to prevent them from dominating Chinese competitors.

All teams will be required to run youth programs, while players and staff will be required to join community outreach activities to build fan loyalty.

“We don’t just want hero players, but we want fans to be loyal to the teams whether they win or lose,” Huang said.



Associated Press