In yet another story of the globalization of sports, the San Jose Sharks have announced plans to purchase a hockey team in China. The team will be known as the China Sharks. The Chinese government has high hopes after this past Summer Olympics to host the Winter Olympics in 2022. Much like basketball and baseball before them, the Sharks are hoping to cash in on the 1.3 billion people that live in China. The thought is that if they could attract just 2% of that population to become fans, they would have more fans than the entire population of the United States.
Similar efforts have been put forth by the New York Yankees and the NBA. It is believed that the NBA has already crossed that 2% threshold. The NBA has a subsidiary known as NBA China that deals with all operations there. It is estimated that this company is worth $15 billion. They currently operate over 50,000 stores in mainland China that only sell NBA merchandise. These numbers are absolutely staggering. Expect many more franchises to try and push for popularity in China.
Back to the Sharks plans. The team competes in the Asian Ice Hockey League and are actually the only team that represent China in that league. While the San Jose Sharks have been operating the team for the past year, this newest investment purchases the team outright from the Chinese government. Don't expect the NHL to be announcing plans for an Asian subdivision anytime soon but the willingness of the Chinese people to adopt American sports has proven that nothing at this point is impossible.
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