CBA's Shanghai Sharks welcome new owner, aim for championship

World
Europe

Starting from the 2019-20 CBA season, the Sharks will have a new owner – Shanghai Jiushi Group.

The Shanghai Sharks of the CBA announced on Tuesday that the transfer of ownership of the team had been completed.

In their statement, the Sharks called Jiushi Group a "giant public service state-owned enterprise with total assets of over 450 billion yuan (about 65 billion U.S. dollars)." The team said that Jiushi will make use of the group's resources and expertise in the sports sector to invest in the development of the Sharks.

Thanks to the new owner's deep pockets, the Sharks have a new ambition, a pretty big one actually: to win the CBA Championship in the new season.

Shanghai Jiushi Group is no stranger to sports event operation. /Screenshot of the company's official website

Though they won the CBA title 17 years ago, the Sharks could not afford to dream that big for a long time. The last time they drew any attention over player introduction was in the 2014-15 season when the team signed with Michael Beasley. However, according to Tencent Sports, Beasley's contract was lower than one million U.S. dollars, not an astonishing number even by CBA standards.

The cash shortage has been bothering the Sharks. In the 2018-19 season, the team kept reaching out to different names on the market but at the end, they only introduced veteran Liu Wei and 38-year-old Argentinian forward Luis Scola to improve the franchise.

Liu Wei #8, Jimmer Fredette #32 and Luis Scola #4 of Shanghai Sharks /VCG Photo

After the Sharks were knocked out by the Beijing Ducks in the playoffs, Chinese basketball commentator Yang Yi said it was already a big success for the team to make the playoffs after their thin lineup caused by a low budget suffered great damage due to player injuries.

The Sharks head coach Li Qiuping already indicated some of his potential target players.

"If we have the chance to sign players like Ding Yanyuhang or Abudushalamu Abudurexiti, we won't miss it and I believe our team are fully capable of signing them. Of course there are still issues to be dealt with over their contracts," said Li after the Sharks were eliminated from the playoffs.

Besides investment in team building, Jiushi Group also plans to move the Sharks back to the Puxi side of Shanghai and take the Shanghai Indoor Stadium, currently under renovation, as the team's home court.