Companies wave chequebook at NBA's Chinese drawcard

By SCOTT SOSHNICK in New York

Yao Ming may never eclipse Michael Jordan as a basketball player, but he has a good shot at supplanting Jordan as the sports world's pre-eminent pitchman.

Though the 2.26m (7ft 5in) National Basketball Association rookie lacks a driver's licence and a complete command of English, his endorsement portfolio already includes contracts with Nike, Apple Computer, PepsiCo's Gatorade brand and Visa International.

If the 22-year-old Chinese centre keeps improving on the court and leads the Houston Rockets to an NBA championship, he may wind up selling more T-shirts, sports drinks and computers than Jordan, a five-time Most Valuable Player who won six NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls.

"He very well could," said Jordan, whose economic impact on the NBA and its affiliated companies was estimated at US$10 billion ($17.7 billion) by Forbes magazine in 1998. "He's shown he can play at this level, but he's going to have to continue to get better, which I think he will."

Although fans picked Yao to start this year's All-Star Game ahead of the Lakers' Shaquille O'Neal, his appeal stems more from his birthplace than his basketball.

He has become an idol in the world's most populous nation, where six television networks signed contracts with the NBA to show games this season. Yao is also popular in the United States. His first meeting with O'Neal, on November 17, is the highest-rated game of the season.

"Michael transcended sport, and you've already seen that with Yao," said Shawn Bryant, chief executive of Game Face Ventures, a New York firm that links NBA players with companies seeking endorsers.

Yao also has endorsement agreements with China United Telecommunications and Sorrent, a maker of video games for cellphones. Philadelphia's Allen Iverson, the NBA's Most Valuable Player in 2001, called Yao "a gift from God" because of his ability to promote the game worldwide.

"Yao is going to be a more global phenomenon than Jordan," said Rockets president George Postolos.

"If he continues to grow on the court, he will do things that are unprecedented in marketing."

Erik Zhang, leader of the group who are crafting a marketing strategy for the No 1 pick in last year's NBA draft, said he wanted Yao to concentrate on basketball because "if he becomes a superstar everything will fall into place".

And becoming one of the league's best players should not be a problem, say his coaches and team-mates. Yao, meanwhile, is leaving the marketing to the experts.

"I don't really understand this aspect very well," he said. "I'm not a businessman, I'm a basketball player."