Yikes! Yao vs. Yi is huge

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Yikes! Yao vs. Yi is huge

This is what NBA Commissioner David Stern had in mind that night of the 2002 NBA draft when, with visions of a vast global market waiting to be conquered, he called out the name Yao Ming.

This is what Rockets owner Leslie Alexander thought the next morning when he said, ``This is the biggest individual sports story of all time.''

This will be a night that seemed impossible a few years ago when a November game between the Rockets and the Milwaukee Bucks represented anything but what tonight's game will be, a must-have ticket and an international sporting event.

Tonight will bring the first NBA meeting of Yao and the player expected to be the next Chinese NBA star, Yi Jianlian, an occasion that could draw the largest global audience to see an NBA game.

``Friday night's really big,'' Rockets CEO Tad Brown said. ``It's really a watershed moment for the development of the game as an international product and of what the NBA is doing to market itself internationally.

"The presence of Yao Ming, and what an international superstar he has become, and this young and very gifted countryman coming to play against him for the first time in the NBA, is very special," Brown said. "Hundreds of millions of people will be watching. It will be a phenomenal sporting experience."

It is not the first time Yao has played against a teammate from the Chinese national squad, having gone against his former China Basketball Association rival Wang ZhiZhi and Mengke Bateer.

But Yi, the sixth pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, is the first significant NBA player from China since Yao, and he arrives in town with a passionate and devoted following.

"Here we have two gentlemen, from different regions, Shanghai (Yao) and the Guandong Province (Yi), and who mean so much to this enormous country, with an enormous television market and enormous love for basketball," Stern said. "Now we have the exclamation point."

Networks, Webcasts

The game will be on 19 networks in China, including CCTV-5, Guangdong TV, Guangzhou TV, and ESPN Star Sports in Hong Kong and Taiwan. It also will be available live through two Webcasters.

Though ratings estimates in China are difficult and vary widely, today's game is said to be certain to draw 150 million viewers and could reach 250 million. CCTV-5 alone is available in 210 million households.

Yao's first game against Shaquille O'Neal in 2002 drew an estimated audience of 220 million and the largest cable television ratings in the United States for a regular-season game since the 1995 comeback of Magic Johnson.

"I heard there were close to 200 million people that watched," Yao said. "But come on, in our country, we have (1.3) billion. That's still a small part of it."

Yi's first televised NBA game drew an audience estimated at 100 million, but it went up against a Rockets game that was available on other regional cable networks.

When the Indianapolis Colts played the New England Patriots last Sunday, the average audience during the game was 33.8 million; 66.4 million saw at least a six-minute portion.

The average audience for Super Bowl XLI was 93 million, with 139.8 million seeing at least six minutes. There have been estimates Super Bowls draw a global audience of roughly 150 million.

The audience for tonight's Rockets game, starting on a Saturday morning in China, could exceed the Super Bowl, Colts-Patriots game and the Friday ESPN NBA games combined.

For the Rockets, and by extension for Houston, it will be considered a showcase to the vast Chinese market.

"It's extraordinary, not only because of the wonderful tradition in Houston, but because the Toyota Center is becoming an international model," Stern said. "To see a surging market such as Houston, it's great for Houston, great for the NBA and great for the NBA on a global scale."

When Toyota Center on Thursday announced a sponsorship agreement with Founder Group, a Chinese IT company, Founder became the fifth Chinese company to sponsor the Rockets, with another expected today. Four Western companies also advertise in Mandarin during Rockets games.

"That's why Wal-Mart is in (China)," Stern said. "Best Buy is in, GM is building cars, American Express is investing. It's why Coca-Cola is there, Nike, McDonalds. It's because of what China is, an emerging market with an enormous population and an enormous love for basketball."

Because of Yao, whom Brown called "the linchpin" for the Rockets' international marketing success, the Rockets have become China's NBA team. On Thursday, Luis Scola became the fourth Rockets player to endorse Chinese shoes and sporting goods, joining Steve Francis (also with Anta), Shane Battier (Peak) and Chuck Hayes (Li Ning).

"The more we can get together with great brands like Founder, the more we think it helps us become more popular worldwide, as well," Brown said. "It's something we've looked forward to. It's something we've cultivated pretty well."

'Another milestone'

More than a business opportunity, however, the game is another landmark in China and for the Chinese in the United States.

"This is another milestone for us," said Nine-Min Cheng, the Community Outreach director of the Chinese Community Center in Houston. "In Houston and outside Houston, we will be very proud to see the two Chinese players on the court in the NBA.

"So many people will lose their sleep over this game. When I was a young girl in Taiwan, we had a very good baseball team, and everybody got up at 3 o'clock to see them. Parents would make you wake up and tell you (that) you have to be part of the pride when you have a very good athlete like this. China is the fastest-growing market in the world, and Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian are very, very important economically and socially."

They are examples of what the NBA saw coming that night when Yao was drafted, and all that Alexander imagined.

"It pumps life into the NBA and the Rockets," Alexander said then, looking ahead. "It's unbelievable. Everybody loves being part of something the whole world spotlight is on. Now, it's bigger than ever. I like that. It makes it more fun. It makes it bigger than life."

Tonight: Bucks at Rockets

When/where: 7:30 p.m.; Toyota Center.

TV/radio: FSNH; 610 AM and in Spanish on 850 AM.

Rockets update: The Rockets have won the past five meetings with the Bucks and never have lost to Milwaukee in Toyota Center. The Bucks solidified their point guard position in the offseason; the Rockets collected former Bucks Rafer Alston and Mike James.

Bucks update: The game will pit Chinese national teammates Yi Jianlian and Yao Ming, but it also is a matchup of Yao and another No. 1 overall pick, Andrew Bogut, who scored eight points in one game against the Rockets last season. After losing their first two games, the Bucks have beaten the Bulls and Raptors.

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