Reggae Dub Festival

ruogu1234 · Dołączył: 24 Paź 2019 Posty: 330

Canadas largest sports company wants the Maple Leafs to become Chinas favourite hockey team, in much the same way Manchester United is the most popular soccer team in the worlds most populous country. At the same time as Chinese government officials have asked the NHL to stage a regular-season game in China as early as next season, TSN has learned four executives with Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment are scheduled to leave Friday for Beijing for meetings to help grow hockey in China, an untapped frontier for many sports leagues around the world. MLSE chief commercial officer Dave Hopkinson, Bo Hu, MLSEs executive in charge of Chinese business, and two colleagues will attend meetings in Beijing with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, his staff, and Chinese government officials. Maple Leafs President Brendan Shanahan was scheduled to participate but canceled at the last minute, a team spokesperson said. (The NHL and NHLPA announced forward Carter Ashton was suspended for 20 games on Thursday after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug. Ashton said he borrowed another athletes asthma inhaler.) MLSE executives, the 27-year-old Hu in particular, have quietly laid the groundwork for building the companys profile in China over the past three years. Because basketball is so popular in China, MLSE staff first established relationships with companies interested in sponsorship agreements with the Raptors. The basketball team now has sponsorships with Chinese auto tire maker Aeolus Tires and Asus, a laptop maker. MLSE has also partnered with I.T. company Huawei on music-industry projects. Its believed that MLSE garners more than $300,000 from each of those sponsorships. Company officials declined to say how much sponsorship revenue they make from China-based companies. As MLSEs relationships in China matured, the company landed meetings with the Chinese government - meetings where MLSE received an attractive offer. China is competing with Kazakhstan to host the 2022 Winter Olympics. China wants to have hockey teams that are competitive. But with a mens national team thats ranked No. 38 — behind New Zealand, Belgium and Iceland — China needs help getting to that point. China wasnt a sports nation before the Beijing Olympics in 2008, but it is now, Hopkinson said in an interview. The president of the country attended the Team Canada mens hockey games in Sochi and said he fell in love with hockey. Whats important to the president of China is important to China. Chinese officials said in exchange for helping to develop grass-roots hockey programs in China, the government would help MLSE promote the Maple Leafs brand there. This is the most storied and established brand in the game, Hopkinson said. We were told that if they were going to partner in the NFL, it would be with the Dallas Cowboys. If they were doing a baseball deal, it would be with the New York Yankees. And if theres a partnership in the NHL, its going to be with the Maple Leafs. It doesnt hurt that the Leafs are based in Canada. Tensions might appear if a U.S.-based team tried to do what the Leafs hope to do. The Chinese have told us they really appreciate what we are doing, boots on the ground, helping them to develop a hockey competency, said Hopkinson, who has made four previous trips to China. In March, the Leafs converted all of their rink boards to Chinese to welcome Chinese viewers. In August, the team sent staff to Beijing and Shanghai to stage hockey camps for young amateur players. In coming weeks, the Leafs will aid in the production of a 10-part Hockey 101 series to be included in NHL broadcasts on CCTV in China to educate viewers. We arent the only team in China, Hu said. The Canucks and Islanders are there, too, but we really have a plan to become the biggest hockey brand there. We want to keep holding camps for kids, building grass roots interest, and eventually take our Maple Leafs players there. This is the Manchester United model. The worlds most famous soccer club says it has 108 million fans in China, where it has played almost a dozen times since 1975. Hu said because the NHL prevents teams from promoting themselves outside their local territories, MLSE has been targeting Chinese companies such as Air China and the Bank of China that want to expand their business in Canada. There are a lot of Chinese mining companies that have investments in Canada, although we just signed an agreement with a Colombian mining company, Hu said. Hu confirmed Chinese officials have told the NHL they are interested in hosting an NHL game as soon as next season. As any seasoned marketer knows, the payoff for a team to break through in China is huge. In its recent filing for an initial public offering, Alibaba reported just 45.8 per cent of Chinas population uses the Internet, far lower than Canada or the U.S. In 2000, four per cent of urban households in China were considered middle class; by 2012, more than two-thirds of those homes had gained that status, earning between $9,000 and $16,000. In 2022, Chinas middle class may eclipse 630 million consumers. There already are signs that China, a non-traditional hockey market to be sure, is open to a new sport. Last year, the state broadcaster CCTV began showing four live NHL games every week. This is CCTVs second year of a three-year deal with the NHL. NHL games broadcast on the weekend in China have attracted an average 800,000 households - airing at 7 a.m. local time. By comparison, televised Leafs games in Canada with national distribution this season have attracted about 1.5 million viewers. This year, Beijings 150 registered teams have 2,300 players between the ages of six and 15, MLSE says. Still, there are challenges to growing hockey in China. For starters, its an expensive sport, Hu said, thanks to 30 per cent import duties for hockey equipment shipped from the west and expensive ice time. There are politics to consider. In 2005, the newspaper Beijing Today accused western soccer teams of gold-digging, using their tours of China solely to build their brand and commercial presence. Some efforts simply dont translate. Manchester United closed a pair of theme restaurants after fans didnt see a connection between soccer fandom and eating out, The New York Times reported in 2007. Also, its unclear whether the NHL sees a big upside in China. The league does not have a senior vice president in change of expanding its international business, a position common in other pro sports leagues. Moreover, the NBA has a long head start in China, where it began to lay a toehold during the 1990s. Now, the NBA attracts some five million viewers a game in China. In the U.S., NBA broadcasts on cable TV get about two million viewers per game. Its doubtful that the NHL would ever grow business through the sale of team jerseys. While authentic jerseys now sell for $330 in Canada, counterfeiting has flourished in China, bringing down the price of knock-off jerseys to $5 or $10 in some cases. NHL Jerseys Outlet . "For the past several weeks, Logan has been dealing and playing with an upper body injury," said general manager Doug Wilson in a statement. "Despite his efforts to play through it, the injury has not responded as we had hoped and Logan has made the decision to undergo a surgical procedure to repair the problem. Discount NHL Jerseys . Cox started the season with San Francisco, but was released by the team on Nov. 12 before being signed by Seattle, where he appeared in two games and tallied three tackles before being released on Dec. https://www.chinanhljerseys.us/ . HABS HEADED TO CONFERENCE FINAL The Montreal Canadiens scored early in Game Seven, built a lead and protected it well on their way to a 3-1 series-clinching win over the Boston Bruins. While this game or series isnt necessarily a referendum on the value of fourth lines, the Canadiens certainly benefitted from production lower down their forward depth chart. Clearance NHL Jerseys .Tatjana Haenni, FIFAs head of womens competitions, told a FIFA Live Your Goals Tour news conference Friday that the artificial turf is being tested to make sure it meets standards. Wholesale NHL Jerseys .Y. - Everyone expected Clayton Kershaw to pitch a shutout, and he did — a unanimous choice for the NL Cy Young Award.LOS ANGELES -- Commissioner Don Garber thought he knew what Major League Soccer was getting into when the Los Angeles Galaxy signed David Beckham more than four years ago. Garber now realizes he had no idea what the Beckham Experience would mean for his fledgling league. A few days before Beckham plays for his first MLS title in the final days of his Galaxy contract, Garber says the league doesnt regret inviting the English superstar to become the face of MLS in 2007. "I underestimated the power of his celebrity by a long shot," Garber said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I think we underestimated the challenge of (Beckham) playing for England, and we didnt expect his desire to go out on loan (to AC Milan). But I also totally underestimated how hardworking and tough he is. He will play through injury and fatigue. That warrior-like mentality was like nobody expected in MLS. This guy wants to win, and hell do anything. Hes been great for our league and for our game." Garber spoke at length about MLS past while outlining his goals for the leagues future, from an expansion franchise in the New York area to the growing role of supporters in MLS competitive culture. Hes also hoping the Beckham experience lasts for at least another year, putting his weight behind the Galaxys bid to persuade Beckham to stick around after his best MLS season concludes this year. "I find it amusing that when David came into the league five years ago, many sports media pundits were saying how much hes over the hill," Garber said of Beckham, whose services are coveted by Paris Saint-Germain and a handful of British clubs. "You dont hear that any more, and this is five years later." Garber also is happy about the Galaxys serendipitous appearance in the MLS Cup on Sunday on their home field. Los Angeles faces the Houston Dynamo on Sunday at Home Depot Center. "At times Im almost envious of other leagues championships when it ends up with a dream matchup," Garber said, citing the recent appearances of marquee franchises such as the Yankees, Lakers and Packers in other sports championship contests. "Those matchups always seem to deliver greater value to their league in the years to come, and we have not really experienced that." The Galaxy are playing the final in their home stadium, just the third time thats happened in MLS 16 seasons. A similar coincidence boosted the popularity of the New England Revolution in 2002, even though they lost the league title to Los Angeles at home. Garber confirmed MLS is likely to change the championship format soon from a neutral-site game to a championship matchup at the home of the highest-seeded club. "Theres something much more special when the home team is involved," he said, suggesting the league will consider additional channges to the playoff format in the off-season.dddddddddddd With exponential growth in attendance and television exposure this season, along with a 19th franchise joining the league in Montreal next year, its clear MLS is making progress in the long-growth strategy Garber has espoused since moving to MLS in 1999 from a job with the NFL. Yet Garber also feels the leagues 35 designated-player signings have been crucial to its growth into a reputable league. "Its hard for any young, emerging business to not be guilty at times of overhype," Garber said. "While at times I regret how hyped we were when Freddy Adu came into the league (in 2004) or when David came in, I dont regret the excitement that David created by coming in. I had the expectation that MLS would become more popular, that wed see improved ratings and a different attitude." MLS television ratings rose on each of its platforms this season, and attendance grew more than 7 per cent. MLS will appear on the new NBC Sports network next year in a lucrative deal, and the Galaxy announced a reported 10-year, $55 million deal with Time Warner Cable Sports new network on Friday -- a tenfold increase on its last deal. Merchandise sales also are up, driven by the new layer of star players and MLS attention to eye-catching design with an international flair. Yet Garber said hes most pleased by the growth of what he calls "the supporter culture" around each team. From Seattle to Philadelphia, MLS fans are emulating the involved attention given to soccer clubs on other continents in increasing numbers -- and in surprising ways. "When youre a fan of other major leagues in America, the experience is somewhat similar," Garber said. "Youre in a bright facility and youre watching your team, but there is an institutionalization of sport that in many ways forced the fan to be an observer more than a participant. In soccer, the fan is that third key constituency. Weve even seen the downside of that, but thats very positive for us today. Thats what we want to instil and create in our fans." Garber is pleased to see a proliferation of "20- to 30-year-old hipsters" in MLS crowds, wearing team garb and reveling in a sporting pursuit with a different flavour than the standard American sports enthusiast. Garbers passion for stirring fan support is the main reason MLS is focused on putting its 20th franchise in the New York area. The commissioner scoffed at recent reports that the New York expansion plan had stumbled, insisting the league will figure out a plan to create a natural rival for the Red Bulls. "We believe that big markets need rivalries," Garber said. "If we truly are engaged in the unique dynamic that drives our sport, inner-city rivalries are a big part of driving fan passion." ' ' '