For the last few years, the Houston Rockets and Shanghai Sharks of the China Basketball Association have played one another in an exhibition game. Now, that partnership is extending into the esports sector.
The Shanghai Sharks are owned by Chinese video sharing company Bilibili, which extended its partnership with the Houston Rockets in a deal announced last week. As part of the agreement, Bilibili Gaming became the official esports partner of the Rockets esports team, Clutch Gaming. The two teams faced off in their first League of Legends friendly match on Oct. 9, garnering nearly 900,000 viewers worldwide according to ESPN.