China Daily Weekly - 02.08.2019

Tickettreat

thisyearfor

Shanghai’s

ATPMasters

Day,nightoptionsmakethetennis

eventaccessibletoawidermarket

BySHIFUTIAN
[email protected]

A

s the onlyATP Masters
1000 event inAsia, tickets
for the RolexShanghai
Masters are always in high
demand.
With superstars like RogerFeder-
er gracing the main court at the Qi
Zhong TennisCenter, the final three
days of the tournament usuallysell
out at least a month in advance.
In order to make thisyear’stour-
nament (Oct 5-13) more accessible, a
wider varietyof ticket types is being
offered.
In addition to the regular full-day
ticket, newdayand night tickets for
matches played between Oct 7 and 11
are also on sale.
“For a high-level event like the

Shanghai Masters, the daytime

matches and nighttime matches

featuring the top international play-

ers are equallyexciting,” said Patrick

Yang, deputygeneral manager of

the event’s promoter, ShanghaiJuss

SportsDevelopment (Group)CoLtd.

“The full-dayticket had been the

onlyoption forthefans.Somany

officew ersork who had towork dur-

ing the daycould onlycome to the

tennis center at night.For thosewho

are available during the day,they

might not have been able get tickets.

So that’sawaste.

“As a top international tennis

event,we have beenworking to bet-

ter serve the fans and explore awider

market. We alwayswant more fans

to come towatch the matches and to

feel the atmosphere.Byoffering the

dayand night tickets,we are spread-

ing resources better.” TheATP has

welcomed the newticket options.

“While theChinese tennis popu-

lation is growing dramatically,the

Shanghai Masters delivers a superb

experience for fans. The newday

and night ticketswill allowmore

people to enjoythe tennis.For sure,

it’s good news,” saidAlison Lee,

the executive vice-president of the

tour’sInternationalGroup.

The tickets are also on sale at

affordable prices.For example, an

Oct7dayticket costs only 16 0yuan

($23) — a third of the price of an

original full-dayticket.Familytickets

are also available thisyear,with the

cheapest admission for a kid costing

only 5 0yuan.

The Shanghai Masters is the

eighth of nineATP World Tour Mas-

ters 1 000 tournaments on the calen-

dar and is the onlyone not played in

Europe or NorthAmerica.

Qi Zhong TennisCenter boasts

a15, 000 -seat main stadium featur-

ing a retractable roof of eight steel

panels representing Shanghai’scity

flower, the magnolia.

Ticketswent on sale at the follow-

ingwebsites: jusstickets.com, mas-

ters.tmall.com andwww.meclub.org.

NBAesportseyesglobalgains

NewdistributiondealwithtechgiantTencentboostsleague’sChinaambitions

BySHIFUTIAN

The NBA’s esports league is mak-
ing moves to slam-dunk the lucrative
Chinese gaming market.
OnJuly23, the NBA2K League
announced tech giant Tencent as its
first distribution partner inChina.
The deal allows Tencent to stream
games from the league’splayoffs and
finals across its sports, video and
news portals.
“This is another incredible step
forward in the NBA2K League con-
tinuing to growas a global league,”
said the league’s managing director,
BrendanDonohue.
“Tencent is the ideal partner to
distribute our games and bring the
excitement of the NBA2K League

to fans inChina. This partnership

illustrates the popularityof esports

and interest in the NBA2K League

among its hundreds of millions of

dailyusers.”

The league is based on hit video

gameNBA2K.Its 2 0 18 version,NBA

2K18, has sold some 1 0 million cop-

iesworldwide and is the best-selling

edition in franchise history.

Each team features sixplayers

who compete as unique characters

in 5-on-5 playinamixof regular-

season games, tournaments and

playoffs.

The NBA2K League has been

expanding its fan base across the

world since its inaugural season in

20 18, generating over 293 million

video views online. The league and

its teams have more than two million

combined followers on social media.

Atotal of 17 NBAteams partici-

pated in the inaugural seasonwhen

KnicksGaming defeatedHeatCheck

Gaming 2- 0 to be crowned cham-

pion. This season, 21 teams joined

the show,with the playoffs tipping

off onJuly24 and the finals due to

begin onAug 3.

“The NBA2K League is aworld-

famous professional esports league,”

said Tencent Sports general manager

Ewell Zhao.

“Tencent Sports hopes the NBA

2K Leaguewill provide a newway

to bring the charm of basketball and

sports to more people.”

The teams in the NBA2K League

are affiliated to actual NBAteams,

with all the competitions taking

place exclusivelyin NorthAmerica

to date.

However,with the league aiming

to go global, establishing aChinese

franchisecould be possible in the

future,Donohue toldChinaDaily

during an exclusive interviewon

July24.

“The esports market inChina is

exploding,” saidDonohue. “Also,

there are millions of peoplewho

playbasketball in the country.

There’s significant interest in the

sport. So there’s an ideal fanbase for

our league inChina. This is a new

opportunityfor us that looks really

promising.”

Meanwhile, the NBA2K League

has beenworking to disprove the

geekystereotypes associatedwith

esports.

“Wehavetaughtourplayers the

importance of health, fitness and

balance,” saidDonohue.

“Our playerswake up everymorn-

ing towork out together, and their

dailylives are verysimilar to their

counterparts in the NBA.

“So, that healthyand balanced

lifestyle is a keymessage of our

teams.”

The RolexShanghai Masters is played in Qi Zhong TennisCenter’s impressive main stadium.

PHOTOSPROVIDEDTOCHINADAILY

FansofSwiss superstar Roger Federer getinthe partymoodduring

lastyear’stournament,whichwaswonbyNovak Djokovic.

SPORTS

32 CHINA DAILY GLOBAL WEEKLY August2-8, 2019

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