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Tuesday May 13, 4:38 AM
NBA, Anschutz near deal for new China arenas: reportBillionaire businessman Philip Anschutz's AEG firm and the National Basketball Association are near a deal to open up to 12 arenas in China, Street and Smith's Sports Business Journal reported on Monday. Citing unnamed sources familiar with the deal, the newspaper reported the partnership between the US sports firm and the NBA would develop and operate arenas under AEG's global expansion plan and NBA hopes for an Asian league.
Expanding upon that base, the NBA and AEG are in the process of finalizing a plan to include other Chinese areas such as Shanghai, Nanjing and Guangzhou, the Journal reported, saying the deal is expected to be announced within weeks. Last year, the NBA created NBA China to handle all league business in the nation. More than 250 million dollars in corporate support for NBA China included backing from The Walt Disney Company. NBA commissioner David Stern has often said that a major obstacle to possible European expansion for the NBA was the lack of suitable arenas, but AEG opened The O2 in London and O2 World is set to open in Berlin in September. Should similar projects flourish in China, the NBA could have the base to operate an Asian league while AEG would have a greater arena network for its entertainment buisness.
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