Bayern Munich Planning Talks With Alibaba?

The surge in demand seen in the Chinese sporting market shouldn't come as a surprise. NBA superstars including LeBron James and Kobe Bryant have traveled to China to promote not only the sport but their Nike Inc (NYSE: NKE) branded apparel.According to the Chinese-focused media publication Global Times, Germany based Bayern Munich soccer club is looking to follow suit and target the large Chinese market.The current German Champions winner and 2012-2013 Champions League winner plans to hold talks with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE: BABA). The discussions are likely to discuss an arrangement in which Alibaba will sell Bayern soccer shirts with player names in Chinese characters.Bayern already targets the Chinese speaking market with a Chinese language version of their website. Other German teams have also followed suit with including Wolfsburg, Schalke and SV Hamburg. In addition, these clubs, including Munich Bayern travel to China for pre-season training camps, sponsorship meetings and friendly matches against local teams."China has become the biggest and most important market with a rapidly growing affinity for football," Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge once said, according to Global Times.Bayern is also scheduled to play two friendly matches against Chinese squads this summer in Beijing and Shanghai, According to Bavarian Football Works. The soccer related blog post also stated that there are an estimated 90 million Bayern fans in the country. Last summer Bayern traveled to the United States for two friendlies against Chivas Guadalajara and the MLS All Stars. At the same time, SV Hamburg and Werder Bremen both spent about a week in China and participated in friendly matches against Chinese Super League teams.