The NBA has become the most popular American sports league in China thanks largely to Yao Ming, and that devotion has generated rapid economic growth for NBA China.

Goldman Sachs valued NBA China at $2.3 billion when it launched in 2008, and its revenues are estimated between $150 and $170 million, according to a Sports Business Daily report last year.

It remains unclear how Yao’s departure will affect the NBA’s marketability in China, although a recent poll on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent to Twitter with more than 21 / 2 times the subscribers, indicated that 57 percent surveyed would stop watching if Yao retired.