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NBA Players Sports Agents Sports Business

Let’s Do Chinese

That’s what Kobe Bryant’s agent (Rob Pelinka of SFX) is thinking.

The NBA continues to grow in China, and more people are buying jerseys (especially Kobe Bryant’s).

Besides being alongside Kobe throughout all of his struggles, Rob Pelinka has helped him become one of the most prized athletes in China. Kobe’s jersey is more popular in China than any other basketball player, including China’s own Yao Ming [Most popular jersey in China? Kobe’s, not Yao’s]. Yao is not even in the top 5 for jerseys sold this year, giving hope to agents that their American or other country-born client could become a major hit in China.

Bloomberg News is reported as believing that NBA retail sales and the number of NBA-related stores will rise greatly in China within the next year. As mentioned in the ESPN.com article, China is the largest country when it comes to size of population. Why not promote your NBA client in the biggest market available, and one that has a growing interest in your client’s sport?

-Darren Heitner

By Darren Heitner

Darren Heitner created Sports Agent Blog as a New Year's Resolution on December 31, 2005. Originally titled, "I Want To Be A Sports Agent," the website was founded with the intention of causing Heitner to learn more about the profession that he wanted to join, meet reputable individuals in the space and force himself to stay on top of the latest news and trends.

Heitner now runs Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., which is a law firm with many practice areas, including sports law and contract law. Heitner has represented numerous athletes and sports agents as legal counsel. He has also served as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington from 2011-2014, where he created and taught a course titled, Sport Agency Management, which included subjects ranging from NCAA regulations to athlete agent certification and the rules governing the profession. Heitner serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where he teaches a Sports Law class that includes case law surrounding athlete agents and the NCAA rules.

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