Tag Archives: Gary Bettman

Up close with Stephon Marbury, plus NHL’s Olympic scare stories

This week on the China Sports Insider Podcast we sit down with basketball star Stephon Marbury – arguably the most famous foreigner living in China, where he’s been for more than a decade. It’s a wide ranging chat about his current coaching duties in the CBA bubble, the upcoming Olympics, his career in China, plans for the future, and more, so please give it a listen.

But before the chat with Marbury, we focus on the latest Olympic ice hockey news. With COVID-19 again ripping through much of the western world, it’s increasingly likely that the NHL’s schedule will be disrupted to such an extent that the league may prevent its players from going to the Olympics, because it will need the scheduled three-week break to catch up all the postponed games. But if that doesn’t happen, the players should still travel with confidence, despite all the misinformation bouncing around North American media. We break down what’s true and what isn’t, and what NHL players can expect when they get to Beijing.

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Bursting The Bubble: What We Know About the 2022 Olympics

There are a lot of outstanding questions about exactly how the 2022 Beijing Olympics might look and, to be frank, there is still a lot that’s unknown – largely because the organizers haven’t made or announced their final decisions. But things are starting to take shape and – despite the uncertainty that COVID-19 clearly brings – there is a fair amount we can be confident about.

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Rocky Road Ahead for Chinese Ice Hockey Hopefuls

Weekly Roundup

  • Six potential scenarios for Chinese ice hockey ahead of the 2022 Beijing Olympics
  • Latest news on whether NHL players will return to Olympics
  • Pfizer competes with Chinese vaccines at Tokyo and Beijing Games
  • Boycott Watch
  • Other stories in the build-up to Beijing 2022

Can the Car Crash Be Avoided?

Thanks to all of you who got in touch after last week’s story about the current state of Chinese ice hockey and the car crash that appears to lie in wait at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. I heard from multiple players, coaches, industry execs and journalists, who all reached out to offer some thoughts. It also resulted in at least one follow-up story, with The Economist – of all people – highlighting the situation.

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Xi to stay on, Wanda to get out, Tmall turns to F1 and more Milan misery

Here’s a summary of what you can find in my weekly China Digest for SportBusiness:

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Why the NHL will make it in China – and why it won’t

A large contingent of NHL executives made the trip out to China this week to announce the league’s first initiatives in the country: preseason games between the LA Kings and the Vancouver Canucks in Shanghai (Sept 21) and Beijing (Sept 23), kicking off an eight-year slate of games, which could be upgraded to regular season match-ups as early as 2018. Let’s take a look at some of the factors that might help the NHL in China, as well as the obstacles that lie ahead.

Why hockey will make it in China

1) The timing is right. With less than five years to go to the 2022 Olympics, the government is making a serious push to develop winter sports, and it’s no accident that Chinese President Xi Jinping has been featured in very lengthy segments on the national nightly news touring Olympic venues on more than one occasion this year. As I told the Globe and Mail after the announcement was made, there are actually a lot of indications that the government is moving away from soccer at the moment, and making winter sports its No. 1 priority within the sports industry.

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