Text | Sports Industry Ecosphere Liu Jintao
Edit | Chen Diandian
On September 15th, the semifinals of the 2023 National Men’s Basketball League (hereinafter referred to as NBL) are in full swing. The fourth match between Shaanxi Xinda and Guangxi Weizhuang has not yet ended, and the winner among them will play against Anhui Wenyi who advanced early in the final.
The finals is the peak stage of competitive sports. The 2023 season is a new year of NBL’s brand-new upgrade, which not only restored the home and away games, but also restarted the foreign aid system. This season, 12 teams participated in the competition, and even the Golden Bull Team of Hong Kong joined. This is the first time that the basketball territory of China really expanded to Hong Kong, and the league was held in 11 provincial administrative regions across the country.
The NBL situation in the new season is very anxious, and the broadcast screen and promotion of the event have been greatly improved compared with the past. With the opening of the NBL finals, more and more fans and brands are paying more attention to this league. We find that the influence and brand of NBL league are gradually occupying a new position in the hearts of the people.
Peak showdown! Welcome back to the audience, NBL is in full swing in 2023.
Before the start of the season, no fans may think that this season’s NBL is only in the regular season, and each team has actually fallen into a "big fight" competition pattern.
In the past four seasons, Guangxi Weizhuang was the most successful team in NBL. They not only reached the final finals for four consecutive years, but also successfully won the championship in 2021 and 2022, which was a faint dynasty. However, in the opening match that started this summer, Krypton witnessed the new army Hong Kong Golden Bull team win the defending champion Guangxi Weizhuang unexpectedly at the scene of Southorn Arena in Hong Kong, and also experienced the attention and passion of fans after the return of home and away games.
In the first three rounds of the regular season, all eight teams that reached the playoffs last season suffered defeat. Especially by the end of the season, Guangxi Weizhuang’s record was only 5 wins and 6 losses, including 3 wins and 4 losses at home and 2 wins and 2 losses away. It was the only team with a winning percentage at home lower than that at home, ranking seventh among 12 teams. On the other hand, the achievements of the three new armies newly joined in the season were somewhat unexpected: Liaoning Yisheng ranked second with 8 wins and 3 losses, and was firmly in the first group under the leadership of Hudson, the famous team of Liaoning in CBA and the scoring king of CBA history. The other two new armies, Hong Kong Jinniu and Jiangxi Ganchi, were both 4 wins and 7 losses, ranking eighth and ninth respectively.
This competition pattern of "feud between governors" lasted until the last moment of the regular season. The competition for playoff places was fierce, with 6-8 players only one win, and seven teams would compete for three playoff places, and the suspense remained until the last moment. In the playoff "life-and-death battle", Hong Kong Taurus was still 10 points behind at half-time, but they didn’t give up. They struggled with Changsha until the last minute and scored a go-ahead goal 22 seconds before the end. They finally defeated Wuhan Kunpeng 101-99 and won the last playoff spot with a big reversal.
Such fierce competition broke out completely in the playoffs. For example, in the semi-final on September 9, Anhui Wenyi and Liaoning Yisheng fought from the first game to the last moment, and Anhui Wenyi narrowly defeated her opponent at 120:118. On September 11th, Shaanxi Xinda and Guangxi Weizhuang fought in the second semi-final, and the two sides tied at the regular time until the last moment of overtime. In the end, Guangxi Weizhuang defeated his opponent by one point and equalized the big score of the series.
All these stadium stories not only stirred the blood and passion of the fans, but also paved the way for the "annual drama" of the finals. According to Krypton, this year’s NBL finals will adopt the "2-2-1-1-1" system of best of seven games, and even the fastest time to decide the champion will be on September 29th of the Mid-Autumn Festival. This system arrangement gives fans time and opportunity to fully enjoy the charm of NBL events, and creates preconditions for the spread of event stories, the expansion of IP and the influence of stars.
In the final, whether it is Anhui Wenyi or Guangxi Weizhuang and Shaanxi Xinda, which compete for the final seat, when these veteran teams meet again in the final, the fierce star confrontation and head coach’s fight will inevitably enhance the suspense of the game and fill the fans’ expectations.
Behind the fierce confrontation in the finals, a brand-new NBL league which is more and more popular with fans is coming to the fore, and behind this, it is indispensable for the organizers to carefully operate and upgrade.
Krypton learned that in the preparatory stage of NBL League, the organizers made some efforts to upgrade the brand of the event. After the home and away games were resumed, there were obvious changes in the broadcast standard of the event and the brand packaging design. The Logo of the new season, the improvement of the packaging and broadcast pictures of the stadium venue, will bring better experience to fans and spectators. All this is inseparable from the work of the organizers, but also from the support and cooperation of various clubs.
All these efforts have brought the stadium back to the enthusiastic fans and the audience in front of the screen. Krypton has learned that the attendance rate of clubs’ home courts can reach 70-80% this season, and some popular ball markets, such as Liaoning, Hefei, Shaanxi and Shijiazhuang, are frequently hard to find a ticket. The live broadcast data of the first five rounds of the regular season exceeded the whole year of last season. By the end of the regular season, the VV data reached 61.5 million, and the UV number reached 38.58 million, both of which were historical highs.
"From the aspects of competition organization, reception requirements in competition areas, broadcast signal production, media promotion and business development, we have made detailed requirements for all clubs, and organized various trainings many times before the competition to enable relevant standards and requirements to be implemented, and formulated a unified competition operation standard for the league. Wang Di, assistant general manager of Deep Basketball Sports, told Krypton.
"This year is, in a sense, a season of all-round upgrade of NBL League, which will allow more fans to watch NBL League and pay attention to NBL League. Wang Di said that the official accounts of all participating clubs can broadcast the match live this season, so as to give back to the home fans better and make the fans of the club feel more belonging when watching the live broadcast.
Attracting Hong Kong teams to join, NBL expands the basketball territory of China.
Sports is a concentrated expression of the development of culture and economy, and excellent IP can always attract investors’ attention. With the joining of Hong Kong teams, NBL League became the first domestic professional league with Hong Kong clubs participating and its home court set in Hong Kong.
It is understood that the Golden Bull Club of Hong Kong hopes to join a league that implements the system of subject and object. Considering that China has the largest basketball league in Asia and a huge basketball market, Taurus has set its sights on NBL. "By participating in high-level and highly antagonistic competitions, we believe that the Taurus team will surely become stronger and stronger, and deepen sports exchanges and cooperation with the mainland while upgrading the level of basketball in Hong Kong and promoting sports specialization and industrialization. "The club told Krypton.
In the course of the NBL campaign, the Hong Kong Jinniu team relied on the operation of the team culture to enhance the team’s fan appeal. Since June 1st, Taurus has started to operate social platform accounts including Weibo, Video No.,Tik Tok and Xiaohongshu, produced and published posters, player data, post-match videos and tidbits of each game, even including the team’s away games, all-star experience and many other contents, and also launched themes such as "Little Bulls Night Little Golden Bull Night" and "Retro Party’ Golden’ Night" for local fans in Hong Kong.
It not only brings fresh blood to the China mainland sports leagues, but also builds a bridge of basketball communication between Hong Kong and the mainland through the language of basketball, which proves that the sports culture communication between Hong Kong and the mainland is getting closer and closer.
"Under the background of Greater Bay Area’s construction, the promotion and exchange of basketball between Hong Kong and the mainland has played a positive role in further promoting the rejuvenation of the country’s three major goals and the development of professional sports, comprehensively deepening sports exchanges and cooperation with Hong Kong and Macao, and helping Hong Kong integrate into the overall situation of national development. It is also one of the concrete measures to implement the construction of a sports power. The Taurus Club told Krypton.
Outside the team level, NBL League has also been favored by many sponsors this season. Including NBL’s official partner midfield line, official suppliers such as Jinuoer and Spalding have voted for olive branches, and the commercial value of the league has gradually picked up. At the same time, NBL has also provided a stage for more sports enterprises eager for upward development, helping the development of sports manufacturing industry from the competition level.
Run NBL well and water the fertile basketball soil in China.
Last year, BA, a village that burst into flames, created an empty lane and a hard-to-find scene. In this year, the popularity of village BA is further deepened. With the arrival of many "national versions" of village BA and the dedication of many social forces, rural basketball is opening up a new situation, driving the popularity of mass sports and mass basketball.
Behind this, the huge basketball population in China is being activated. According to the Report on the Development of Basketball in China released by chinese basketball association, the population of basketball in China is about 125 million, and basketball is the first sport of collective ball games.
NBL, as the only men’s professional basketball league held in summer in China, has played an important role in the comprehensive coverage and healthy development of professional basketball in China.
What’s more commendable is that NBL has extended professional basketball to places that are difficult to be covered by CBA, serving the basketball population in China with more dimensions. For example, Maitreya, Yunnan, the venue of this year’s All-Star Games, this little-known town has made great efforts to develop sports in recent years, and has successively held the World Free Fight Competition.China-AustraliaMen’s Basketball Challenge, Women’s International Half Marathon, National Cross-country Motorcycle Invitational Tournament, etc.
NBL has brought new opportunities for the development of sports in the city, enriching many basketball areas that are not covered by professional sports. As can also be seen from the figure, NBL has covered nine provincial-level administrative regions without CBA teams this season, most of which are concentrated in the inland of the motherland, and its geographical distribution also reflects the unique value of NBL league.
Where there is a lack of professional teams, NBL has sown the fire of professional basketball, igniting the love of more fans, just like the reflected sunlight, illuminating the seeds in the fertile soil of China basketball territory and creating a new environment for upward growth.
It is precisely because of the existence of NBL that more and more basketball teenagers and powerful players stand out from here. Zhao Rui, Cui Xiaolong and Jiang Yuxing, CBA stars, all started in NBL, and some rookies regard NBL as an alchemy furnace rushing to a higher stage. From 2015 to 2023, NBL sent 20 players to CBA through draft.
"NBL must take the development path of youth and localization. While ensuring the professional operation of the club, the Deep Basketball Association will cooperate with the association to introduce more policies to promote the healthy development of the league, attract more young players to join the NBL League, and make the NBL League a platform for outstanding players to enter professional basketball careers. "When talking about the future development, Wang Di told kryptonite.
"In addition, we should deepen the localization operation, make local fans feel more belonging through the youth training and fan exchange activities organized by the club itself, and truly build a professional basketball club belonging to a city. Wang Di said, "I hope that in the future, the NBL League will continue to’ open up the territory’ and strive to have teams in as many provincial administrative regions as possible, so as to contribute to expanding the territory of professional basketball events in China and building a sports power. 」
In the process of telling city stories, building basketball culture and shaping league brand, NBL is gradually conveying the concept of "My home court is infinite", which also makes the upcoming NBL finals open up a broad imagination space of local culture and home court atmosphere, and the roots of China basketball are also spreading at this time, affecting more people.
Looking back on the long years of NBL’s growth, although the league has ups and downs, it has laid the foundation for the development of sports leagues in China, and also represents the progress of basketball in China. In the new era, the sports industry expects NBL to continue to bring more excitement and practice the concept of basketball upgrading and development in China.