NBA loses 'hundreds of millions' in China over Hong Kong tweet | Inquirer Sports

NBA loses ‘hundreds of millions’ in China over Hong Kong tweet

/ 07:06 PM February 16, 2020

Adam Silver

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver walks away from the podium after speaking at a news conference before an NBA preseason basketball game between the Houston Rockets and the Toronto Raptors Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2019, in Saitama, near Tokyo. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Saturday the league expects to lose “several hundred million dollars” due to a row with China over a tweet by Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey supporting Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters.

The NBA’s Chinese sponsors cut ties in a fierce mainland backlash following Morey’s tweet in October, just before two NBA teams played pre-season exhibition matches in China.

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State broadcaster CCTV also stopped airing NBA games for the country’s millions of ardent basketball fans and has not resumed.

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“The magnitude of the loss will be in the hundreds of millions of dollars,” Silver told a press conference on the sidelines of the All-Star Weekend in Chicago.

“Probably less than $400 million, maybe even less than that,” he said.

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However, “it’s substantial”, he added.

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“I don’t want to run from that … But I don’t have any sense that there’s any permanent damage to our business there.”

The commissioner said he expected CCTV to resume broadcasts of NBA games but did not give a timeframe.

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TAGS: Adam Silver, China, Daryl Morey, Hong Kong, Houston Rockets, NBA, Tweet, Twitter

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