The NBA will soon offer Chinese fans original programming — and an easier way to buy league gear— through e-commerce giant Alibaba, the league and Alibaba announced Wednesday.
Joe Tsai, minority owner of the Nets and sole owner of the WNBA’s Liberty, is executive vice-chairman and second biggest stockholder in the Huangzhou-based e-commerce giant. Alibaba has nearly 700 million consumers across all its platforms which extend throughout Asia. Tsai’s ownership of the two New York teams is not through Alibaba but instead his family investment vehicle, Blue Pool Capital.
Alibaba did not mention Tsai’s role with the NBA in its press release announcing the deal, concluded by NBA China, on whose board Tsai sits.