NBA: partnership with Alibaba Cloud (CHN) ahead of 2 pre-season games to be held in China

Alibaba Cloud, the cloud and digital technology arm of Chinese multinational Alibaba Group, has signed a multi-year collaboration agreement with the National Basketball Association to "reimagine the ways fans in China experience and engage with the NBA" from 2025-26, announced the two parties on 09/10/2025.

The signing of this partnership comes at a time when the North American league is organising two pre-season games at the Venetian Arena (14,000 capacity) in Macau (CHN) on 10 and 12/10/2025. The "NBA China Games 2025 presented by Taobao 88VIP" will see the Brooklyn Nets and the Phoenix Suns go head-to-head, and will be the first NBA games to be played in China since 2019.

As part of the agreement, the Chinese group will "develop innovative applications to enhance live game viewing and other fan engagement experiences, including in conjunction with NBA All-Star, the NBA Playoffs and the Finals," explained the North American league, which will now host its digital platforms (official app and site) via the Alibaba Cloud infrastructure.

The partnership includes the creation of a…