The official WeChat platform of Shanghai Sharks has revealed that the club will be titled the "Shanghai Bilibili Basketball Team" for the 2016-2017 CBA League.
"Bilibili" is a well-known video sharing site, and fans refer to it as “B station." Allegedly, it has 22 million active users, 1.4 billion Danmu (bullet screen), more than 100 million daily video playbacks and more than 8 million videos created by UGC.
Previously, the Shanghai men's basketball team had Maggie Tire as its long-time sponsor. The CBA league title sponsors are mainly banks or real estate companies. Before that, only the Sina Lion Basketball Team, sponsored by Sina, appeared in the CBA league with the title of the network media. That was for the years 2001 to 2003.
The official WeChat platform announced that the cooperation between Shanghai men's basketball team and Bilibili would improve the game content both inside and outside the stadium. Fans will have a different viewing experience from other stadiums and they will have more opportunities to integrate with team and league activities. Also, the players will be able to have more interaction with the fans through Bilibili.
Proofread by Sean O Diobhilin