Pac-12 China Game tickets go on sale

SAN FRANCISCO – Tickets for the first-ever Pac-12 China Game are now on sale to the public, the Conference announced today.  On Nov. 14, the Washington Huskies and Texas Longhorns will play a regular season basketball tip off in Shanghai at Mercedes-Benz Arena, an AEG Facilities operated arena.

With the game, the Pac-12 will become the first U.S. sports league, collegiate or professional, to host a regular season contest in China. It is the latest event in the Pac-12’s Globalization Initiative, an unprecedented effort to promote goodwill and showcase the Conference and its member institutions in China through cultural exchange and sport.

The game will be played at 11 a.m. local Shanghai time and tickets are available through Damai.cn in the United States and China. 

English ticket link: http://en.damai.cn/event/tickets_87496/
Chinese ticket link: http://item.damai.cn/87496.html

The Pac-12 selected AEG to serve as the event operator and is working with their division in China to deliver a first-rate experience for its student-athletes and new fans. 

“We are thrilled to be working with a world-class operator like AEG on this historic endeavor,” said Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott. “The ability to showcase the best of college basketball in the iconic Mercedes-Benz Arena is exciting as we introduce the Pac-12 and our universities to the Chinese audience.”

As the event operator, AEG will coordinate all aspects of pre-event promotion, running the game and management at the AEG Facilities-operated Mercedes-Benz Arena.

 “AEG China is proud to be partnering with the Pac-12 for the first ever NCAA Regular Season men’s basketball game to be held in China,” said John Cappo, President & CEO, AEG Asia. “This is a historic milestone for the Pac-12 and the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai.”

The Pac-12 China Game will feature a variety of off-court, educational and cultural activities for the student-athletes and university delegations. Notably, the student-athletes will visit the headquarters of ecommerce leader Alibaba Group (NYSE: BABA), the game’s presenting sponsor, to participate in a full-day educational program on strategic societal, cultural and business trends taking place across China. They will also experience Chinese culture and visit historic landmarks in and around Shanghai. 

In conjunction with the game, the Pac-12 will host three educational expos to promote its member universities to the Chinese audience in Shanghai, Nantong and Suzhou. Also, an academic delegation from Pac-12 institutions will meet with education and government leaders in a symposium to explore further cooperative programs in sports, student and faculty exchange, research and academics. 

To help promote the game, the educational expos and the symposium, the Pac-12 has partnered with HUPU Sports as the event promoter. Hupu is a leader in sports marketing, media and events in China and will work closely with the Pac-12 to build excitement for the game and additional educational exchange between the two countries.

“The Pac-12 is the Conference of Champions both in academic and athletic sectors among the universities in the U.S.," said Shawn Cheng, CEO of HUPU Sports. "Last year Pac-12 brought elite basketball student-athletes to China and raised a huge wave among Chinese basketball fans. This year HUPU is excited to work with Pac-12 again to promote the collegiate educational exchange and the first NCAA regular season game in China."

With this game and the events throughout the week, the universities are providing their students with a once in a lifetime chance to learn about China, to make new friends, and to hopefully impact their futures in a positive way.

“The University of Washington is proud to provide such a transformative experience for our student-athletes,” said Athletics Director Scott Woodward. “Their activities on and off the court will be a valuable addition to their academic and cultural experiences at the university and help them grow as young men.”

 “The University of Texas is looking forward to being a part of this landmark men’s basketball game in Shanghai at Mercedes-Benz Arena,” said Texas Men’s Athletics Director Steve Patterson. “We are fortunate to be working with the Pac-12, AEG and HUPU to make meaningful connections with our international fan base, provide cultural edu-cation opportunities to our student-athletes and build valuable relationships."

About the Pac-12 Conference:
The Conference has a tradition as the “Conference of Champions,” leading the nation in NCAA Championships in 50 of the last 55 years, with 478 NCAA team titles overall. The Conference comprises 12 leading U.S. universities: The University of Arizona, Arizona State University, the University of California-Berkeley, the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), the University of Colorado, the University of Oregon, Oregon State University, Stanford Uni-versity, the University of Southern California, the University of Utah, the University of Washington and Washington State University.  For more information on the Conference’s programs, member institutions, and Commissioner Larry Scott, go to www.pac-12.com/conference.

About AEG:
AEG is one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world. AEG, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Anschutz Company, owns or is affiliated with a collection of companies including over 100 of the world’s preeminent facilities such as STAPLES Center (Los Angeles, CA), StubHub Center (Carson, CA), Best Buy Thea-ter (Times Square, New York), Mercedes-Benz Arena (Shanghai, China), Allphones Arena (Sydney, Australia) and The O2 are-na and entertainment district (London, England).  Developed by AEG, L.A. LIVE is a 4 million square foot / $3 billion downtown Los Angeles sports, & entertainment district featuring Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE, Club Nokia, and a 54-story, 1001-room convention "headquarters" destination.  In addition to overseeing privately held management shares of the Los Angeles Lakers, assets of AEG Sports include franchises such as the LA Kings, LA Galaxy and Houston Dynamo and the Amgen Tour of California cycling stage race.  Along with AEG Facilities, other global divi-sions include AEG Live, the world’s second largest concert promotion and tour-ing companies comprised of touring, festival, exhibition, broadcast and special event divisions and AEG Global Partnerships, responsible for worldwide sales and servicing of sponsorships, naming rights and other strategic partnerships.  In 2010, AEG launched its AEG 1EARTH environmental program featuring the industry's first sustainability report while in 2011, AEG introduced AXS a comprehensive entertainment platform serving as the company’s primary consumer brand including AXS Ticketing which provides fans the opportunity to purchase tickets directly from their favorite venues via a user-friendly ticketing interface, Examiner.com and the AXS TV network. For additional information, visit www.aegworldwide.com.

About Mercedes-Benz Arena:
Mercedes-Benz Arena is Shanghai’s premier live entertainment, culture, sports and lifestyle venue. The six-level complex seats up to 18,000 with state-of-the-art acoustics and production technology for staging of the biggest in-door shows in China. It incorporates a public ice skating rink, a cinema with six screens, and 20,000 square meter retail podium of concept shops and wide variety of food & beverage outlets.

About HUPU Sports:
HUPU, founded in 2004, is the leading sports marketing company in China. HUPU provides fully integrated sports marketing strategies to tailor the various needs of its clients around the globe and keep their businesses thriving in today’s marketplace. HUPU offers a variety of prestigious services and business solutions including integrated sports marketing, event management, new media services, media distribution, online games and e-commerce.

About the Pac-12 Globalization Initiative:
Founded in 2011, the Pac-12 Globalization Initiative is an unprecedented effort in China to proactively promote the Conference and its member institutions through student-athlete exchanges and sport. The Initiative uses the shared passion of athletics to support the ambitious international strategies that many of our universities have embarked on to extend their reach into China.  For more information on the initiative and its history, go to www.pac-12.com/pac-12-globalization-initiative.