The Toronto Maple Leafs Want to Take Over China

Last week, CCTV, China's dominant state television network, broadcasted three Toronto Maple Leafs games live. Because the 7 p.m. ET start time for the games is 8 a.m. in Beijing, the games were re-aired during prime time. During intermission of Wednesday's game, when the Leafs were playing the Bruins, a pre-recorded interview of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, urging China's people to watch the Leafs through these nationwide runs, was aired. He quipped that he's looking forward to the day when Team Canada will face off with Team China at a Winter Olympics.

Before the National Hockey League follows the NBA, NFL, and MLB in taking regular season games to international locations, the Leafs have begun an aggressive campaign to become China's team of choice. And they have already covered quite a lot of ground there—Leafs games attract a bigger television audience in China than in Canada, Maple Leaf Sports Entertainment Ltd.'s chief commercial officer, Dave Hopkinson, said this month. Of course, China's population is 1.3 billion, and Canada's is about 35 million.

CCTV, the state broadcaster, has entered a deal with the NHL to show 119 games live this winter, 20 of which will be Leafs games. "How many more people can hockey get in Canada? … We haven't got a whole lot of head room here," Hopkinson said. "If we're going to dramatically grow the game, we need to look internationally."

There's another reason why the Leafs foray into China is happening now: China is a strong contender to win the bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, with Kazakhstan as its only competitor so far. When Chinese President Xi Jinping saw the hockey games this year at Sochi, one of his immediate thoughts was how can he bring the game to China. Subsequently, Chinese government officials reached out to the NHL to discuss the possibility of hosting regular season games in the country as soon as next year—something that would immensely bolster China's bid, which has been criticized due to China's historical lack of participation and interest in winter sports.

3rd @MapleLeafs game on CCTV in a week. #TMLtalk pic.twitter.com/dnRqgy0dw9

— Bo Hu (@bohu131) November 15, 2014

When the NHL does arrive, the Leafs want to make sure people already know their team. In March this year, the Leafs allowed 10 of its sponsors to use Mandarin advertisements on rink boards at its Air Canada Center in Toronto, as a gesture of inclusivity for the people who tune in from China. Then in August, the organization arrived in Beijing and Shanghai to host development camps, teaching more than 2,000 kids how to skate and shoot. These camps provided the setting for CCTV to film a 10-part series showing the growth of the sport in the country through the words and actions of coaches, parents, and kids. One 10-year-old said he finds the sport "manly."

The Leafs are paying for the airtime and CCTV is broadcasting these mini documentaries during their games. The team's idea is to replicate the successful NBA globalization model and rake in the cash: the average price for an NBA pre-season game ticket in China is almost $500.

But popularizing hockey in China could be a slow and painful process. The NBA has first-mover advantage, and its exponential growth comes on the back of its decades-long investment in the country. It also has Yao Ming, who was single-handedly responsible for a huge spike in the Chinese NBA-watching population. Hockey, on the other hand, could definitely get a lift from the Winter Olympics if China wins the hosting rights, but the high cost of equipment and infrastructure make grassroots growth unlikely. There are only five standard-size rinks in Beijing and China ranks thirty-eighth in the world in the sport.

Then again, you have to start somewhere. The Leafs are exposing China to hockey, and developing the game there. And for now, enough of the 1.3 billion population is watching to make the team's investment worthwhile.