The Women’s National Basketball Association is following in the footsteps of its parent organization with a major marketing partnership in China.
The WNBA and Chinese athletic footwear maker Fujian Peak Group struck a multi-year marketing pact that will ensure exposure of Peak athletic shoes on WNBA courts.
New York Liberty center Janel McCarville and San Antonio Silver Spurs guard Erin Buescher, successive winners of the WNBA’s Most Improved Players awards over the past two years, also have signed deals to become Peak endorsers. McCarville and Buescher will wear Peak court shoes during games. The two will also participate in grassroots basketball promotional events in China, at dates yet to be determined, and will be featured in Peak advertising in China.
“This is really the first time the WNBA is over there,” said WNBA spokeswoman Christina Nishihara.
WNBA teams may play exhibition games in China in the near future, she said.
Peak is looking to build international awareness of its brand and promote basketball in China, which is a prime NBA objective.
The WNBA’s move follows the creation of NBA China last month, an entity involving five strategic partners who took an 11% stake in that deal. ESPN, Bank of China Group Investment, Legend Holdings Limited, Li Ka Foundation and China Merchants Investment are the investors.
The National Basketball Association sees China as a rich, untapped market and has been building its profile there with pre-season games and grassroots events over the last few years.
For more coverage on other marketing tactics
