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Senator Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Pressed the leader of the NBA on Tuesday, Bill Koenig, on the bonds of the League with China, a very debated subject for a while.
Representatives of most of the major professional sports leagues were at the Capitol on Tuesday to discuss media rights, dissemination and streaming services across industry.
During the hearing, Blackburn asked Koenig, the president of the NBA of Global Content & Media Distribution, in particular the way in which the League has treated with China in recent years.
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Senator Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Arrives at a business meeting of the Senate judicial committee at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on February 13, 2025, in Washington, DC (Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images)
Blackburn started with some history on the situation.
“Over the years, I have examined the NBA relationship with oppressive regimes around the world,” said Blackburn. “And, of course, you have all had a fairly comfortable relationship with the CCP, and we know how they censor.
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“To return to 2019, with Daryl Morey’s tweet in support of Hong Kong’s freedom fighters, which led to the suspension [of] The NBA broadcast on their media channels managed by the state. In recent years, it seems that you have all corrected this relationship, which means that there must have been a kind of agreement that was there and must have been completely a matter. “”
Morey, who was the director general of the Houston Rockets at the time, dismissed a tweet who said: “Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong” in October 2019. This tweet supported pro-democracy protests in the communist state.
China replied by announcing that the NBA pre-season games which were to be played in Shanghai at the time would not be a television. Then he extended this suspension for almost a full year before putting the NBA on his television published by the State during the NBA 2020 finals.
After suggesting that the NBA and China had to conclude an agreement to put their relationship on the right track, Blackburn pressed Koenig for the details.
“So, since we are talking about diffusion rights and what they are worth, why don’t you tell me what the diffusion rights are worth in China and how the owners of the NBA have invested in China,” she said.
Senator Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Questions the secretary of the Treasury, Janet Yellen, during a finance committee of the Senate, hearing about the budget request proposed by President Joe Biden for the financial year 2024 on Thursday, March 16, 2023, in Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP photo / Jacquelyn Martin, file)
“The NBA has a very long history of distribution of our games and our content in China for over 30 years,” replied Koenig, but that was not enough for Blackburn.
“I do not wonder the duration of the duration of China. I ask what the value of the rights of the media? You are the president of the world content and the distribution of the media. So, what are these rights and how many the owners of the NBA invested in China?”
Koenig replied: “The NBA does not publicly comment on the financial terms of our relationship – we or abroad. But I can say that you are correct that, in the light of the tweet that Daryl Morey did in 2019 …”
“You had to conclude an agreement,” replied Blackburn, but Koenig said that the League had not done so.
“Estimates are that these media rights are hundreds of millions of dollars to all, and that the NBA team owners have invested up to $ 10 billion [in China]. I think that some clarity in these figures would be important, “added Blackburn.
The NBA commissioner Adam Silver expresses himself at a press conference before a match of the Tournament in the NBA season between the Los Angeles Lakers and Indiana Pacers at the T-Mobile Arena de Las Vegas on December 9, 2023. (Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu via Getty Images)
“The other thing we look at is human rights and we examine how the NBA punished players who spoke of human rights attackers in China. Enes Kanter Fredom, a specifically. So, can you commit to me only in each agreement that the NBA does in the whole world, the League is to maintain human rights, and that the league is to maintain the freedom of the word, and they support Americans of freedom? “. “”
Koenig replied by saying that “one of the most important values of the NBA is freedom of expression”.
“In fact, the example you have mentioned before – Daryl Morey. It was not disciplined or censored in any way in the light of the comments he made,” added Koenig. “You are right. This comment may have led to a lack of coverage by video surveillance and other things. But, no, we very much appreciate freedom of expression, and this is something that I can confirm.”
Since the NBA repaired its relations with China, Commissioner Adam Silver said the League will plan to play matches again.
“I think we will bring back matches in China at some point,” he said in October. “The Chinese government has taken away the air for a while. We have accepted this. We have supported our values. … Anyone in our league has the right to talk about political questions.”
Senator Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Questions Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the choice of President Donald Trump to be the Secretary of Health and Social Services, as evidenced by the Senate financing committee on January 29, 2025. (AP photo / Jose Luis Magana)
Silver also said that in 2020, the NBA underwent “dramatic” financial losses due to business sponsors fleeing, among other factors, after its relations with embittered China.
In 2022, an ESPN survey revealed that the owners of the NBA had invested $ 10 billion in China, which included an owner whose company had a joint venture with an entity sanctioned by the United States government.
