Shen Yang/Wen, Tencent Sports Correspondent in New York
On the evening of January 25, US time, on the floor of the stadium of the Barclays Center, the home of the Nets, ESPN's reporter Mark Minamin repeated the four words "Happy New Year" recorded in his mobile phone because he wanted to congratulate everyone with Chinese in Tencent's live broadcast connection. He listened and read it repeatedly, afraid of saying the wrong thing. The contest between the Nets and the Lakers is undoubtedly the most anticipated showdown of the season, but because the Nets have set this game as a special spring festival game, they have filled this expectation with more content and meaning, and pushed the atmosphere to a higher peak.
(The LED screen outside the Barclays Center broadcasts a dynamic poster of the Nets Spring Festival)
As soon as you enter the stadium, the strong smell of the New Year has been paved, and everywhere is decorated with Chinese red colors. In the main layer of the aisle at a distance can see a scan code to smoke Durant's signature jersey display board, the Nets this time can be described as full of sincerity, a sudden out of the Chinese New Year to give back to the fans. The game has not yet begun, and many spectators who have come to the scene have begun to line up to scan the code, hoping to feel the joy and luck brought by the Chinese New Year.
(Fans scan the code lucky draw for a chance to win Durant's signature jersey)
Some fans are waiting in line to scan the code to wait for the lottery, and on the other side, many people are gathered in the large Spring Festival-themed live-action area built by the Nets. Walking in this area, you seem to immediately shuttle to distant China, and experience a domestic Spring Festival atmosphere in silence. Fans stand in front of a red background board studded with the net's gold logo and take photos of the traditional Chinese xiangyun-style arch. Not only can you take pictures, but fans can also receive photos in their mailboxes in real time. Fans of different skin colors were attracted by this large-scale photo experience, and the queue waiting for the photo was constantly extended, and even the staff on the scene marveled at the enthusiasm of the fans.
(Nets Spring Festival theme live experience area, many fans here to take photos)
Of course, in this passage, you can also see traditional artisans making sugar paintings on the spot, and even in the "Brooklyn Market", a special area opened by the Nets, you can taste the most famous local Chinese food in New York, dumplings, noodles and small dumplings. The fan shop is also placed by the famous Chinese designer Lin Nengping (Philip Lin) in New York designed a limited edition Net Spring Festival theme sweatshirt and hat, etc., this Chinese designer's products are always very sought-after whenever they come out, and the joint design with the Nets is even snapped up by fans who came to the scene as soon as they were listed. The Nets' fan store is always crowded, and this time because of the Spring Festival and the launch of the product, but also to make this small store become shoulder to shoulder, not lively, so that the door of the fan store must pull up the security line, can control the flow of people, to ensure safety.
(Famous Chinese designer Lin Nengping Phillip Lim and the Nets jointly launched the Tiger Age sweatshirt)
In short, it has not really been in the stadium, just turning around in the outside passage, you can let people experience the same new year taste and liveliness as the traditional temple fair of the Spring Festival, and the traditional Chinese New Year culture and customs also deeply attract people of different races and colors who come to the stadium to watch the game. Some fans even lamented that this ticket is too worth it, not only to watch a basketball game with shining stars, but also to feel Chinese culture in such a moment and promote exchanges and understanding between the East and the West.
(There is also a traditional Chinese sugar painting performance in the passageway of barclays center))
Truly walking into the venue is even more eye-catching. The main color of the team, which was originally a gray and black match, has all become the Chinese color of red gold. The Nets added a lot of detail and sincerity to the design. The name of the Brooklyn Nets became Chinese characters, and the main screen and scrolling side screen have been looping various Chinese elements of the design. Especially the tiger on the main screen is even more tiger-like, majestic and textured. It is understood that when the designers of the Nets designed this theme tiger pattern, they especially repeatedly referred to the characteristics of the Chinese tiger, in order to maintain the characteristics of the Chinese tiger that are both imposing and very agile.
(The Nets' Year of the Tigers' main visual design decorates every corner of the arena)
Moreover, on each seat of the entire stadium, there is also a Red Packet themed Red Packet of the Net Spring Festival, and if you open the red packet, you can participate in the lottery and various on-site game activities by scanning the code and other ways.
(There is a special red envelope for the Spring Festival of the Nets on every seat in the venue)
Also on this night, 17 Chinese students studying in New York were invited to the Barclays Center, not only to watch the game, but also to enter in advance to watch the players warm up, exchange and learn with the Nets executives, get gifts from the team, and even shoot and play on the floor of the court after the game, and feel the charm of the NBA in all directions.
(Chinese students warm up close before the game)
(Chinese students at NYU got an in-depth study tour experience))
And this Spring Festival, the Nets players are also all involved. Each of them wore a special Chinese New Year T-shirt with the Nets Chinese team name written on it before the game, and they recorded many New Year auspicious words before and played them during the festival. Harden led a group of teammates to challenge the Chinese new year, and even talked a lot about the Chinese culture he knew and experienced, as well as sharing their favorite Chinese food. These interesting contents made the audience enjoy watching between the matches. During the halftime, Coach Nash and Harden sent their blessings for the Beijing Winter Olympics on the big screen.
(Harden warms up in a Nets Spring Festival special edition shooting suit)
(Live Broadcasting of the Nets Players' New Year Special Video Series)
In addition to the players' New Year's greeting videos, the audience also did not hesitate to leave the table during the pause period with a wonderful Chinese-style dance performance. In these performances, the Nets naturally combine traditional elements and popular styles through careful choreography and costume selection, showing the fashion trend of traditional Chinese culture.
(Nets cheerleading team dance performance "Mulan")
(Chinese cultural dance performance during the nets home game suspension)
(Chinese Youth Street Dance Troupe debuted)
During a pause in this game, the New Year greeting video from Tencent Sports community netizens also appeared on the big screen of the Nets, and with the strong New Year atmosphere at the scene, domestic Nets fans sent their blessings to the Barclays Center.
(Tencent Sports Community Netizens New Year Wishes on the Nets Home Screen)
In short, after a game, what you feel the most is the greatest sincerity and warmth from the Nets, all of which are called the Chinese home team, not only because its owner is a Chinese, but more importantly, for such an activity that can have the opportunity to promote Chinese cultural traditions, the Nets have poured their efforts and enthusiasm into the whole team.
According to Nets insiders told Tencent, this New Year game is one of the most important activities of the Nets throughout the season. It embodies the efforts of all departments and employees of the team, and is an effect that can only be achieved by multi-department and multi-type, and full cooperation. The sprint phase of the event began a few months ago, including talking about sponsors, to finalizing the details of various activities, to realizing all the ideas one by one, from how to find a large number of tomes to complete the cooperation, to how to manually load a small gift interactive card into 20,000 red envelopes, everything is undoubtedly a challenging process. But fortunately, the final result can make all those who are in it feel sincere and heartfelt.
(The Nets' Spring Festival Game was advertised on the streets of New York.)
(Very beautifully made Net Spring Festival red packet)
The 2022 Nets Spring Festival of the Year of the Tiger has just come to a successful end, and everyone involved in this activity has begun to look forward to the scene of the Next Year's Nets Spring Festival. It is understood that because the scene has received excellent results, many potential sponsors have heard the news and begun to explore opportunities for cooperation with the Nets in the Spring Festival next year. This also makes the Nets more firmly believe that the reason why all this can impress countless live fans is not a simple basketball game. Establishing a professional Chinese team, constantly pioneering and innovative thinking, always with full sincerity, giving back to all Chinese fans, so that Chinese culture shines on the NBA field, this is the direction of the Nets. Basketball game is the core and carrier, so that more people can understand each other through basketball, communicate with each other, so as to achieve mutual respect, in this basketball court that can accommodate 20,000 people, to achieve a hundred rivers, tolerance is big.