NBA Loses More Sponsors as China Flexes Economic Muscle
- Nissan venture, sportswear maker, dairy firm suspend ties
- Rockets official’s Hong Kong tweet puts NBA in eye of storm
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The National Basketball Association lost almost all of its major Chinese sponsors in the country, the league’s biggest market outside the U.S., as the government flexes its economic muscle after a tweet backing Hong Kong’s protesters triggered a backlash.
A local joint venture of Nissan Motor Co. was the latest to distance itself from the U.S. league, joining China’s largest sportswear maker, the second-biggest dairy firm and a smartphone brand who all said they were pulling out. State television CCTV and tech giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. said Tuesday they won’t show NBA’s pre-season games.