NBA scores New Year hit

The National Basketball Association announced on Monday that its fourth annual Chinese New Year Celebration reached a league record 286 million viewers across China from Feb 20-March 5.

To celebrate the Year of the Sheep, the league engaged fans on social media, highlighted by a series of Chinese New Year-themed promotions through the NBA's official Sina Weibo, Tencent and WeChat accounts.

The #NBACNY hashtag produced more than 540 million impressions on Sina Weibo, and the league distributed more than 120 million NBA-themed digital red envelopes, with prizes such as tickets to the US to watch an NBA game, sponsored by American Airlines, Didi Taxi coupons and a variety of NBA merchandise and virtual gaming coupons.

This year's campaign featured a record 58 live games broadcast and streamed in China, showcasing 28 of the NBA's 30 teams. The league also produced its first NBA Chinese New Year television spot, Surprise Door, starring Stephen Curry, James Harden, Dwyane Wade and Jeremy Lin.

The celebration featured the league's first Chinese New Year uniforms, worn by the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets for seven games. The Rockets and Warriors commemorative adidas jerseys sold out on the NBA Tmall Store, NBA JD.com Store and NBA WeChat Store in China and on NBAStore.com in the US.

On Feb 26, Chongqing TV and Videoland conducted the league's first cross-Straits joint broadcast of an NBA game when the Sacramento Kings hosted the Memphis Grizzlies.