Do you remember the "grassroots team" that won the gold medal in the three-man men's basketball team at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta?
This time, Huang Wenwei, Xiao Hailiang, Zeng Bingqiang and Chen Gong once again appeared on the three-person basketball court, but their identities were no longer "grassroots players", but complete and thorough professional three-person basketball players.
Last weekend, another Chinese professional basketball league against the CBA, the 2021 National Men's Triple Basketball Super League (hereinafter referred to as the "Super Three League"), was officially launched at the Hebei University Gymnasium.
The Super Triple League is a brand new top professional event IP. The tournament was certified and hosted by the Chinese Basketball Association, and was hosted by Shenzhen Basketball Sports (Beijing) Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned enterprise of the Chinese Basketball Association, and carried out the event and business operations. Behind the official guidance and professional team, there is a broader sports blue ocean.
Text / Liu Jintao
01
China's professional three-basketball league, here it comes!
2021 is the 130th anniversary of the birth of basketball, and the strong historical accumulation has made basketball popular on every street in the world, and has also given the emerging project of three-person basketball a richer space for development. With the three-person basketball leaping into the Olympic Games, Asian Games and other world comprehensive competitions, it has opened up a new world pattern.
The strong mass base has given The Chinese three-person basketball a solid superstructure. From the double gold of three-person basketball at the 2018 Asian Games, to the women's basketball team winning the championship in the 2019 3X3 World Cup, coupled with the women's basketball team winning the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games, Chinese three-person basketball has been accelerating in recent years, and now it has finally ushered in a professional historical node.
The Super Triple League was born out of the "National Three-Man Basketball Club Classic" launched in 2019. The first event lasted 6 months, after 8 sub-station competitions, the finals landed in Beijing Olympic Park and played next to the Bird's Nest. Last year, during the epidemic period, the club elite tournament not only returned in September, but also held 12 sub-stations, which fully mobilized the activity of local basketball associations and laid the foundation for the brewing of professional leagues.
Now, after two years of accumulation, after three months of intense preparations after the Olympic Games and the National Games, the professional three-person basketball league has finally opened.
Yao Ming, chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association, said, "The launch of the Super Triple League is conducive to promoting the popularization and improvement of three-person basketball in China, and it will also be a pilot for the reform of the chinese basketball association's event management system. As the IP of the original local event, the Three-Person Basketball Professional League will also exchange and cooperate with FIBA and the 'Belt and Road' countries in the future, and build the event into a platform for international sports and cultural exchanges."
Although it is a transitional season, there are still up to 21 teams participating this season, including 10 seeded teams from the Club Classic, and 11 invited teams, including two teams from the Macao Special Administrative Region. In addition, each team is allowed to register up to 6 players and can include one foreign player.
Under the requirements of epidemic prevention, the season will be carried out in two phases in the form of a tournament system, of which the first phase will be held in Baoding station until December 26, and the second phase will be held in January next year in Macao, the host city of the next National Games.
Three-person basketball has unlimited bright future prospects, but how to build such a top professional league that benchmarks the Chinese Super League and the CBA is testing our builders in all dimensions.
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What is the value of becoming a professional league, super three leagues?
In recent years, we have not only had three basketball events sponsored by the Basketball Association, but also private competitions. Whether it is Sina, Bloomage and other companies, or international institutions such as the NBA and FIBA, they have created their own event IP, and Krypton has reported on such events many times before.
This also shows that companies and brands are optimistic about the commercial value of three-person basketball. The convenience of participation and the simplicity of the rules make three-person basketball have the incomparable entertainment of five-person basketball and most mass projects. Especially in terms of ornamentality, the fierce and fast-paced three-person basketball, both individual performances and team cooperation, can cater to the current trend of short video dissemination and fragmentation of public viewing.
At the same time, the influence of entering the Olympic Games and the national attention aroused by the confrontation of the national team have made three-person basketball have better business opportunities in professional development. At the commercial level, this season's Super Triple League has attracted partners such as ANTA, Yibao, Spalding, Ineo and Jinling Sports, and the competition has also landed on Migu Video under China Mobile, presenting the event with the help of 5G ultra-high definition.
It is worth mentioning that ASTA, as the official sports clothing partner of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, has been rooted in the basketball field for many years, and its "Crazy" event series has been facing the civilian public and grassroots players for many years, and has a high influence among the whole people. Now, after signing the Super Triple League, it not only announces Anta's return to top basketball events, but also uses this to continuously open up the basketball territory and help the development of public basketball.
"This season we have preset 12 home and away games, but because of the impact of the epidemic, it has become a conference system," Yan Xiaoming, general manager of Deep Basketball Sports, told Krypton, "but the home and away system will definitely be adhered to, which will have a wider impact on the team's local fans, which is crucial for event promotion, league commercialization and club operations."
In addition, the season lasting 5-6 months is also a test for the club's operation. "We all know that players can play a lot of games in a year, and bonuses and other income can keep players and even clubs running," Yan Xiaoming said, "but after registering as professional players, they may have a choice in playing other games."
Indeed, player cost is the focus of club operations, especially for the CBA and Chinese Super League teams, and it is clear that the Super League has a cautious consideration in this regard.
"One of the association's positions for deep basketball sports is social enterprise, which means that we should operate in a market-oriented way, but we must invest the proceeds in the event, public welfare, sports and social development." Yan Xiaoming said that there will be more detailed registration and access rules in the future to create a more fulfilling environment for the operation of the league.
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After the start, the Super Triple League still has a long way to go
The reason why the Super Three League dares to play the slogan of benchmarking the CBA and the Chinese Super League is due to the top athletes.
The Super League includes Qu Yang of the "First Wild Ball Quarterback", Zhu Yuanbo of the "First Folk Dunk", Sun Weixin of the "First Demon Guard of the Wild Ball", and Wang Zengjie, a variety show talent, as well as Cuba star players such as Gao Shang, Gu Yuezhuo, Zhang Chunjun, Song Jianhua, Luo Xudong and Han Yifeng, who have transferred from the CBA, as well as CUBA star players such as Chen Guohao, Wu Xingrui, Sun Haiqing and Guo Hanyu.
From the composition of personnel, we can also see that the Super Three League brings together a large number of domestic basketball players outside the CBA, which is not only the embodiment of the league's competitive strength, but also an important stage for the growth of basketball talents, and it is expected that more international three basketball players who can win glory for the country will appear in the future.
"As a professional league, the registration and management of players, the admission system of clubs, and the construction of the league's business system will all be promoted with the concept of professionalism." Yin Zhe, deputy director of the three-person basketball department of the Chinese Basketball Association, told Krypton that in the future, the Super Three League will also develop a multi-level event system, and use the participation right mechanism and the promotion and relegation system to establish a relationship between various levels.
In the basketball world, the number of fixed teams has the necessity of stable development, but three-person basketball obviously has more flexible game characteristics, promotion and relegation and admission system can ensure the continuous change of the league, but also to motivate players to continue to improve.
"The Super League bears the heavy responsibility of training talents, selecting talents and transporting talents for the national team." Yin Zhe told Krypton, "With the change of the Olympic qualifications of the national team, the Basketball Association plans to land a number of international high-level events in 2023, and constantly connect with the international standards through event exchanges to enrich the development of domestic three-person basketball."
In addition, the professional competition of the three-person women's basketball team has previously been embedded in the 2020 WCBA League, and the three-basket competition is directly opened after the end of the five-a-side event, and this exploration is also expected to open up a new pattern of professionalization of the women's three-basket in the future.
With the end of the Tokyo Olympics, Chinese basketball has entered a shorter and busier preparation period. It is worth mentioning that at the unveiling ceremony of the launch of the Super Three League, Yao Ming led the newly established Basketball National Team Construction Committee to complete its first public appearance.
Three-person basketball, like table tennis, has a very high mass base in China. With the launch of today's professional events, the Super Triple League will not only build a perfect competition system to help talent cultivation and growth, but also is expected to make three-person basketball a national business card like table tennis.