China’s Roundball Arenas

The National Basketball Association could be giving a big gift to the concert industry with its new China venture, which could evolve into a new basketball league.

The NBA recently announced the names of the Chinese companies that will take a minority stake in the venture, according to the Wall Street Journal. They will collectively hold 6 percent of NBA China, which will oversee all of the NBA’s businesses in China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, the WSJ said.

The keystone is a basketball league NBA executives hope to launch after this summer’s Olympic Games in Beijing.

With this venture would come new basketball arenas throughout the country. That certainly bodes well for the concert industry, which is making unprecedented inroads into the Communist country but could always benefit from more routing options.

NBA China will be governed by a board of directors that includes David Stern and other NBA executives and U.S. team owners, the WSJ said.