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Media & Entertainment Law

: Sports Biz

ESPN Buys Stake in NBA China

By Mark

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Forget all the hype about ESPN being independent journalist covering stories. If there ever was any semblance of journalistic integrity in the operations of ESPN, the recent actions of the corporate parent have blown that idea out of the water. First, the WWWL goes and buys a stake in the Arena Football League in lieu of, or in addition to, broadcast rights, in order to give itself an upside kicker in value produced by televising the no longer upstart minor league football league. Immediately, it begins promoting AFL football on SportsCenter and across all ESPN media outlets as if Arena League were the fifth or sixth, depending on how you count MLS, another WWLS televised product, major sport.

The latest evidence of the WWWL's lack of journalistic integrity comes with the announcement that corporate parent Walt Disney Co. has joined with four Chinese investors to purchase an 11% stake in NBA China from the NBA. The stake is valued at $253 million, giving the Chinese operations of the NBA an enterprise value of $2.3 billion. The Chinese investors include Li Ka-Shing, a Hong Kong billionaire, China Merchants Bank Co., Bank of China Ltd. and Legend Holdings Ltd. Bringing on Chinese investors is a wise move by the NBA as it helps secure the business within the Chinese bureaucracy. Capturing the attention of the WWWL is also beneficial for the NBA as having ESPN as your business partner, rather than just your broadcasting partner certainly assures you of more favorable coverage across the whole of ESPN's platforms, no matter how much the company may deny it. For Disney, it is no doubt a good business deal with enormous upside as basketball is well loved in China and the NBA is going to be huge. It just doesn't do much for the stateside journalistic independence it likes to pretend it maintains.

Full post as published by Sports Biz on January 15, 2008 (boomark / email).