Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) clubs will have to guarantee their television coverage before being allowed into next season's league, officials said yesterday.

Guangdong Tigers' Wang Shipeng dribbles the ball during the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) game against Jiangsu Dahua on November 28, 2007 in Guangzhou. Guangdong won 127-91. [Xinhua] The 17-team professional league has seen a sharp fall in TV coverage since Yi Jianlian left to play in the Unites States. In fact, local television stations denied broadcasting opportunities to six CBA clubs, reportedly due to low audience ratings and limited marketing chances, depriving fans of the chance to watch their home teams.

"We are very likely to change the league's entry standards, and let them guarantee the coverage at least," said Hao Guohua, director of the CBA's managing office. "We will have some specific regulations for the bottom-ranked clubs and try to help improve their living conditions."

Fujian Xunxing, Shaanxi Dongsheng, Yunnan Honghe, Shanxi Zhongyu and two Zhejiang teams, Horses and Guangsha, all failed to reach any agreement with local television stations this year, and Jilin Tonggang will only have one of its home games broadcast.

Unlike in the US, where television stations pay for the rights to broadcast National Basketball Association (NBA) games, CBA teams - as state media report - have to pay local TV stations if they want coverage of their games.

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