India Breaking News reported Hong Kong Basketball Eyes Expansion in Chinese Market. Despite Oriental Basketball Club’s readiness to engage in further negotiations with the mainland Chinese league, the chairman of the Chinese Football Association remains doubtful.

According to scholars, facilitating opportunities for Hong Kong teams to compete in mainland China could facilitate the expansion of other sports, broadening their audience base and encouraging greater participation.

Hong Kong basketball sees opportunity in China

A prominent academic from Hong Kong suggests that the city’s sports teams explore participation in mainland China’s domestic leagues to enhance their performance. Robert Lui Hongde, Deputy Director of the Department of Health and Physical Education at the Education University of Hong Kong, believes that venturing northward could significantly benefit the development of sports in Hong Kong.

Currently, two basketball teams from the city have initiated this transition. The Hong Kong Bulls are gearing up to compete in China’s second-tier National Basketball League, while the Hong Kong Orient aims to join the Chinese Basketball Association, the country’s premier basketball league.

Although Pei Guanqi, Chairman of the Hong Kong Football Association, anticipates increased viewership by joining China’s domestic league, he deems the idea unrealistic due to its high costs. He points out that Chinese Super League teams incur annual expenditures exceeding 3 billion yuan ($424 million), which even lower-tier league participation would significantly dent. The financial disparity poses a deterrent to potential investors, exacerbating the challenge posed by high operational costs.

Chairman of the Hong Kong Football Association

Pei Guanqi emphasizes that unless genuinely interested investors are willing to support such a move, the association will not actively promote teams to play in China.

However, the limitations of sports competition within Hong Kong advocate for seeking opportunities beyond its borders to groom athletes for international competitions.

Dr. Robert Lu Hongde sees promise in the Beijing government’s Greater Bay Area development plan, covering nine cities in Guangdong Province, Hong Kong, and Macau, as an untapped market. He contends that team sports require a substantial audience base to flourish, citing successful models in North America and professional football and basketball leagues globally.

Dr. Rob Lühund predicts increased youth involvement in sports within the Greater Bay Area, fostering a larger pool of players in the future. Moreover, visits by Chinese mainland teams to Hong Kong for away games could generate revenue through merchandise sales and sports tourism.

Representatives from Hong Kong Orient express interest in the move but stress the need for careful consideration to avoid potential pitfalls.

Cui Fangyu, an official from Hong Kong’s Oriental team, underscores the importance of developing basketball as an industry to reduce reliance on government funding.

Both the Hong Kong Sports Institute and the Culture, Sports, and Tourism Bureau have been consulted for their perspectives on fostering more regular competitions with mainland Chinese teams. While the former asserts that competition-related matters fall within the purview of respective head coaches, the government agency reaffirms its support for the sports industry, including facilitating local clubs’ participation in major competitions in mainland China and the region.

A new Hong Kong basketball club, affiliated with the local A1 league’s Golden Bulls Friendship Team, has formed a team to compete in mainland China’s domestic basketball league. The Hong Kong Golden Bulls will join China’s National Basketball League (NBL), playing their home games in Hong Kong.

The team’s lineup will feature players from both Hong Kong and abroad, with notable additions such as Maltese professional players Samuel Deguara and Lin Bingsheng.

Chairman of the Hong Kong Basketball Association, Chen Shuitian, backs the Golden Bulls’ participation in the NBL, emphasizing its potential to elevate the skills of Hong Kong players by competing at a higher level.

The National Basketball League (NBL), established in 2004, serves as mainland China’s second-tier basketball league.

In a practice match against Hong Kong Oriental, the Chinese national team head coach, Alexander Dordovich, downplayed the absence of star player Zhou Qi, citing it as an opportunity to assess young talents. Despite Zhou Qi’s significance, Dordovich prioritizes grooming the younger generation for upcoming competitions.

Zhou Qi acknowledges the limitations of his playing time and commits to focusing on training to regain match fitness.

Following a defeat to the Chinese team, the Hong Kong Oriental team acknowledges the resilience of its relatively inexperienced players and their ability to execute the coach’s strategies within a limited timeframe.

While the Chinese team concludes its training camp in Qingdao, the Hong Kong Oriental team prepares for more games scheduled in Siyang, Jiangsu, continuing their mainland tour.