July 20 hearing: Will OJ Simpson be released from prison?

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Former National Football League (NFL) star and convicted armed robber OJ Simpson is set for a parole hearing next week that could see him released from prison as early as October and free to cash in a multimillion-dollar pension after serving nine years of a 33-year sentence.

Simpson, one of the biggest names in sport, is incarcerated in the Lovelock Correctional Center, a medium-security prison in the Nevada desert, western US. The 70-year-old will have a July 20 hearing before the Nevada Board of Parole to decide whether he will be released.

He was jailed in 2008 after a confrontation in a Las Vegas hotel room with a sports memorabilia dealer he accused of stealing family heirlooms gathered during his trophied career in football. The charges included armed robbery, kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon.

It is thought likely Simpson will be released, after he was granted parole on some of his offenses during a 2013 hearing. "Simpson's age, the fact that he was given parole on the first sentencing batch, weigh in his favor. So does the fact that he was by all accounts a model prisoner," Nevada defense attorney Dan Hill told CNN.

The prisoner reportedly receives an NFL pension of 25,000 US dollars a month and will have an estimated fortune of 2.7 million US dollars by the time of his expected release.

The former running back and actor remains highly controversial after being found not guilty of the murder of his ex-wife and her friend in what was coined the "Trial of the Century" in 1995. The verdict divided opinions, notably along racial lines. Simpson's legal team argued that the armed robbery sentencing did not fit the crime and was payback for the earlier acquittal.

Now, according to website TMZ, producers are scrambling to sign Simpson up for a reality TV show.

NFL’s promotional efforts in China included a visit by New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady last month. /VCG Photo

NFL making a play for China

As the NFL is trying to grow its global fan base, including in China, it remains to be seen how the freedom and possible return to the limelight of the sport's most infamous figure will affect those promotional efforts. Just as Simpson is an icon for his exploits on the football field, he is loathed by many for his association with violence off it.

NFL showpiece the Super Bowl was streamed live on popular Chinese messaging platform Sina Weibo for the first time this year. The NFL was hoping to open the 2018 season with a game in China but has now reportedly postponed the plan for at least a year.