M-Zone Allows NBA Fans to Stay Connected with Wireless NBA Content
BEIJING, APRIL 7, 2005 — The National Basketball Association (NBA) and China Mobile Communications Corporation (CMCC) announced today a new multi-year marketing partnership agreement that designates China Mobile as the NBA’s official telecommunications service provider in China. In a powerful alliance between two of China ‘s most popular brands, the partnership enables China Mobile to utilize a range of NBA marketing assets to promote its services and distribute NBA wireless content to millions of NBA fans across China .
The partnership will focus on promotion of China Mobile’s M-Zone platform, a subscription and content package targeted to teen and young adult market segments. China Mobile will activate the NBA marketing association through a series of consumer promotions, sponsorship of the league’s na t ional and regional television programming , the NBA’s Chinese website NBA.com/China, and partnership in NBA on-ground events in China . NBA wireless content to be distributed by China Mobile will include NBA game scores and statistics, downloads of NBA logos and player images, and additional interactive products.
With hundreds of millions of user s, China Mobile represents a valuable brand which will help the league meet the growing demand for NBA content in China, said Heidi Ueberroth, Executive Vice President, Global Media Properties and Marketing Partnerships of NBA Entertainment.
“As the only corporation in China that focuses solely on mobile communications, China Mobile has been exploring the huge potential of the market and the opportunities to work with partners in different business fields,” said Lu Xiangdong, Vice President of China Mobile Communications Corporation. “We believe that this collaboration doesn?t only mean a simple business move, but also an impassioned cooperation between two strong brands with innovation which will be welcomed by the customers and lead to a ?win-win? situation.”
China Mobile and NBA are clearly leaders in our respective fields,? said Mark Fischer, Managing Director of NBA China.
Our synergistic alliance will bring the NBA closer to China Mobile?s massive base of subscribers and integrate the NBA further into the everyday life of our fans in China .
About the NBA
Since its founding in 1946, the NBA has truly become a global phenomenon that transcends national boundaries. With 30 teams in the United States and Canada , NBA games and related programming are broadcast to 214 countries in 43 languages via 157 telecasters; they are one of the largest suppliers of sports television and Internet programming in the world. NBA.com, with more than half of all visits to the site coming from fans outside the United States , has nine language-specific international destinations for fans around the world. At the start of the 2004-05 season, NBA rosters featured 81 international players from 35 countries and territories. The NBA is a recognized leader in global sports marketing with 13 offices around the world; including four in greater China .
About CMCC
China Mobile Communications Corporation (China Mobile for short), the key state enterprise of telecommunication directly under the central government, is based on the mobile business that split from the former China Telecom as a result of the reform and restructuring of China’s communications industry. It was officially established on April 20th, 2000 . China Mobile Communications Corporation has a registered capital of 51.8 billion RMB Yuan, assets of over 400 billion RMB Yuan. It fully holds the equity of China Mobile (HK) Group Limited. China Mobile (HK) Limited, of which China Mobile (HK) Group Limited is the major shareholder, set wholly-owned subsidiaries in 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government) in China and went public in HK and New York Stock Exchanges.
China Mobile operates mainly on basic mobile voice services and value-added services such as data, IP telephone and multimedia. It has the right to operate Internet services and the international gateways. Not only providing basic voice services but also value-added services including fax, data and IP telephone. China Mobile owns nationwide household brands like “GoTone”, “Shenzhouxing” and “M-Zone”. After over ten years of efforts, China Mobile has established a comprehensive network with large coverage, high quality, rich variety of businesses and first-class customer services. It is known as the first in the world in terms of the network scale and the customer base. China Mobile has ranked among Forbes the 400 of the Globe with A rank for 3 years.
April 7, 2005
Issued by NBA Asia, Limited. For more information, please contact:
Cheong Sau Ching
Phone: 852-28439668
E-mail: scheong@nba.com
Marcus Chu
Phone: 852-28439629
E-mail: mchu@nba.com