China/basketball: CCTV to resume broadcasting NBA games after 17 months of boycott

The Chinese public broadcasting group CCTV will resume broadcasting NBA games, from the All-Star Game (on 07/03/2021 in the United States, 08/03/2021 in China), according to several Chinese media outlets, on 22/02/2021.

CCTV has only broadcast one NBA game since the tweet of Daryl Morey, then general manager (equivalent to a sports director) of the Houston Rockets NBA franchise, supporting the Hong Kong independence protests, published on 05/10/2019 . Daryl Morey, who deleted his tweet, joined the Philadelphia Sixers franchise on 02/11/2020.

Tencent, a Chinese internet services group, has blocked the broadcasting of Houston Rockets games and boycotted Philadelphia Sixers games since the arrival of Daryl Morey. Exclusive digital partner of the NBA in China, Tencent had extended its partnership for five seasons, until 2024-25, for an estimated amount of $1.5bn (€1.3bn), on 28/07/2019.

• The suspension and cancellation of media and sponsorship contracts in China after Daryl Morey's tweet of 05/10/2019 caused the NBA to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue from Chinese…