The Mouse House is negotiating for a slice of NBA China, which could turn out to be a full-fledged league after the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The league would be self-contained, which means no interleague play with the U.S. NBA teams. It's all pretty tentative, but Disney's interest is not surprising. The company opened Hong Kong Disneyland in 2005 and has more than 4,000 merchandise outlets throughout China. That's a lot of branding possibilities. Sports Business Journal, which has the story, reports that the deal would involve around a 10 percent stake in NBA China.

While controlled by the NBA, the new division will have its own chief executive and its own base of operations in China. Realizing a return on its international business has created a difference of opinion among NBA owners, some of whom want to see some cash from the league’s investment while others want to hold off on selling an equity stake in order to maximize the value from a minority share. But the NBA favors an equity sale given that the expected deal would bolster its China business entity and help establish an actual valuation of its business in that country.