The NBA is celebrating Chinese New Year. For the seventh year in a row, the league has put forward an initiative to celebrate the new year, which will kick off on Feb. 2 and run through March 3. Included in the campaign are a trio of new ads, a bevy of games broadcast in China, and much more.
The league will set a pair of personal records with this celebration, as 12 teams will hold in-arena promotions related to Chinese New Year. Additionally, 93 games will be broadcast live in China.
“During the NBA Chinese New Year Celebration, fans in Greater China will be able to watch 93 games over 30 days, with live broadcasts on CCTV, Tencent, BesTV, Guangdong TV, GreatSports, Videoland, ELTA, Eleven Sports and LeSports (HK),” the league wrote in a press release.
The league will hold events with current and former players — Jason Williams will travel to China to donate sports equipment and a music room to underprivileged students underprivileged children, while Jeremy Lin will meet a trio of fans who are a part of the league’s fan loyalty program in China before they get to watch a Nets game. Beyond that, the Nike City Edition uniforms for both the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets including nods to the Chinese culture.
The NBA will spread the word of this initiative with a trio of ads titled “Fireworks,” which depict Kawhi Leonard, Kyrie Irving, and Anthony Davis meeting a young fan during a fireworks show to celebrate the new year.
All three ads follow the same basic premise, with the slight differences coming at the very end.
Both Leonard and Davis watch the fireworks with the family of the young fan in the ads, while Irving lets the child sit on his shoulders.
According to the release, this trio of ads “will air through March 3 across all of NBA China’s television and digital partners’ platforms, including NBA.com/China, the NBA App and the league’s social media channels in China.”
