Yao Ming to Retire Today

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Jul. 20 – Yao Ming, the most influential Chinese basketball player ever to play the sport, is set to officially announce his retirement later today during a large-scale event at a reception hall in Shanghai’s Pudong District.

Yao, who transferred to the U.S. National Basketball Association in 2002 from his hometown team the Shanghai Sharks, was selected as the first overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets. At 2.29 meters (7 feet, 6 inches), the NBA’s tallest center at the time went on to be named to the All-NBA Team five times during his career and led his team to the NBA Playoffs four times. Yao has established himself as the first globally recognizable Chinese athletic superstar.

“Yao Ming broke the mold for Chinese athletes,” says Chris Devonshire-Ellis, principal of Dezan Shira & Associates. “His agent lived in the same complex as me in Beijing many years ago, and I remember him saying Yao was something special. There used to be fierce debates in the Beijing Writers Bar about whether or not he would make it in the NBA, and I recall things nearly got to blows one night over whether Yao becoming a star could happen. Yao showed many people the Chinese can compete with the United States on their own territory; many thought Yao would never survive there. The parallels in business concerning the Chinese ability to compete in hostile environments are overwhelming.”

In business terms, Yao’s impact has been significant in selling “Brand China.” He has been one of China’s most bankable faces over the last decade, as evidenced by his sponsorship deals with several major companies including Reebok, Visa, Apple, Garmin, and McDonalds. He also had a deal with Pepsi, and he successfully sued Coca-Cola in 2003 when they used his image on their bottles while promoting the national team, again one of the first times a foreign company blatantly got caught infringing on Chinese copyright. Due in large part to these sponsorships and the value of “Brand China,” Yao has led Forbes’ ranking of Chinese celebrities’ income for six straight years, earning US$51 million in 2008.

Yao has also contributed vast amounts of time and money participating in, as well as hosting, charity events around the world. In addition to participating in many NBA-affiliated programs such as Basketball Without Borders, Yao helped raise US$300,000 to stop the spread of SARS in 2003, held an auction that raised US$965,000 for China’s underprivileged children in 2007, and donated US$2 million to relief work and set up a rebuilding foundation after the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake. In 2009, Yao bought his former club team the Shanghai Sharks and it is expected that, after retirement, this is where Yao will concentrate much of his time and energy.

“Yao’s legacy in business terms has changed the perception of Chinese individuals over the past decade from being virtually untouched as marketing tools for global product placements to being some of the most visible vehicles for marketing,” Devonshire-Ellis adds. “Ten years ago, incredibly, there were very few internationally recognizable Chinese stars; only Hong Kong’s Jackie Chan had breached that gap. In opening up the global sports market, Yao has changed the face of global sponsorship to include a strong Chinese element, and this was underlined by the nation’s success in the 2008 Olympics. Yao really was a trail blazer in both promoting China’s international face in addition in making global brands rethink their China marketing policies.”