The recent geopolitical firestorm set off inadvertently by Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey's tweet in support for pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong this past weekend is pushing the N.B.A. into facing an existential problem.
Media across the country is turning to Victor Matheson, professor of economics at Holy Cross and one of the foremost sports economists in the country, to weigh in on the potential consequences and risks involved in this type of politically-charged speech.
?The league enjoys LeBron James being a spokesman back in Akron and Cleveland and speaking out on American politics […] but social justice and free speech does not sell well in China," Matheson said in an interview with The New York Times. "This is the vulnerability for the N.B.A."
Asked by The Athletic in a separate interview whether the recent Morey controversy has the potential to jeopardize the N.B.A.'s deep ties with China, as well as its July five-year, $1.5 billion contract extension of its digital broadcast rights deal with Chinese media, Matheson seemed confident that this too shall pass.
"My sense is that while this is making a bunch of NBA execs nervous right now, it is likely to blow over in the long run," Matheson said. "People love their sports enough that they are generally willing to overlook the behavior of owners, managers and players pretty quickly. The next time China develops a world-class player like Yao, that player is going to wind up in the NBA and Chinese eyes will again be glued on the league."
But in the end, who is bound to end up on the losing side in this controversy? As Matheson tells CNBC in a recent interview, from all the major league sports "the NBA has the most to gain from the globalization but also, as we've seen here, the most to lose. But bottom line, the NBA will survive without China, without a question."
Related Coverage:
- The New York Times, Oct. 7
- The Athletic, Oct. 8
- CNBC, Oct. 10
