NBA commissioner David Stern must be flying high these days having finally found a physical foothold for the NBA in China.

Yesterday, NBA China announced a joint agreement with international entertainment giant AEG to book, manage and operate the Beijing Olympic Basketball Arena, known as the Wukesong Indoor Stadium, along with the Beijing Wukesong Culture and Sports Center after the Olympics end.

It will be the NBA's first venture into actual facility management in China. The league ran the in-arena operations during the 2004 Athens Games and will do the same for the Beijing Games.

"The thing that delights me is that with this great arena, the NBA will be able to reach more people in China and bring fans authentic games," said Tim Chen, the former Microsoft China boss who took the reins of the basketball enterprise last October.

"We will put on a variety of events in the future and I can tell you the 2008 NBA China Games will be held here in October this year."

As the first NBA-style arena in Asia, Wukesong will host the NBA China Games and will also be available for concerts, theatrical shows and international ice-skating or ice hockey events.

Located in western Beijing's Haidian District at the intersection of two of Beijing's major roads - Chang An Avenue and the Fourth Ring Road - the arena is twice as big as current CBA stadiums. Its capacity is 18,700, including 9,600 lower bowl seats, 48 private suites and two restaurants.

Designed by American architect David Manica, who also worked on Houston's Toyota Center, the home court of Yao Ming's Rockets, everything in Wukesong from the scoreboard to concession stands to seat padding has a distinct NBA flavor.

It will be the second Olympic arena prepared to stage top sporting events post-Olympics. The Olympic Green Tennis Center is already scheduled to host WTA's elite tournament and the ATP 500 Series.

"The government has paid so much attention to Beijing's stadiums after the Olympics, and I think this one will be a perfect example to the rest of the facilities," said Zhao Yan, chairman of Wukesong Culture and Sports Center. "We have spent years doing research and choosing the best equipment for the arena. We will try to make it a sports and entertaining center in the city."

The advanced facility is a key to the NBA's global strategy in China. NBA China has already hosted several grassroots events around the country and reached partnerships with 51 telecasters and 16 marketing partners, a combination of Chinese-based corporations and multinationals.

Led by Chen, NBA China was officially launched last month with five companies investing $253 million to acquire 11 percent of the company. The investors include an elite group of prominent entities, such as ESPN, a division of The Walt Disney Co, Bank of China Group Investment and Legend Holdings Ltd.

Chen said owning an arena is just the beginning for the NBA in China.

"We will start here in this arena and emulate its model to build more arenas in other cities," he said.

This is an ambitious plan for AEG as well. The company already operates the O2 in London, which includes an arena and an entertainment district, Staples Center (home court for the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers), and Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota (home of the Timberwolves). AEG's live entertainment division, AEG Live, is one of the world's leading concert promotion and touring companies.

The company wants to move into the already huge but fast-developing Chinese market.

"The arena will instantly become the region's finest and most modern showcase for basketball and other sports in addition to the most popular performers in the music industry," said AEG's CEO Tim Leiweke. "It will be an iconic building just like (New York City's) Madison Square Garden and we will be creating and operating an arena that provides the best schedule of sports and entertainment anywhere in China."

(China Daily February 1, 2008)