Yao Ming has agreed a two-year endorsement contract with Sorrent Inc. - a company that develops video games for mobile phones and other wireless devices.
It's the first sponsorship for the 7-foot-5 Chinese center since joining the National Basketball Association this season as the No. 1 pick in last June's draft.
Sorrent, which wouldn't disclose the financial terms of the agreement, stated that a new Yao Ming video game will be available in the first half of this year in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Said Sorrent president Isaac Babbs: "Yao is a phenomenal player with a huge following his homeland China and growing popularity in the US."
Though the new deal represents his first sponsorship as an NBA player, Yao is in the final year of an endorsement contract with Nike that he signed while playing in the Chinese Basketball Association.
Yao's popularity in China is seen as crucial to the NBA's desire to crack the lucrative Chinese market.
