The National Basketball Association (NBA), deepening its efforts to become more involved in European basketball. In fact, this week, the league’s Board of Governors will meet in New York, presuming to extend this exploration further. Earlier this year, Commissioner Adam Silver made clear that these efforts would not be slowing down. He underlined the league’s deep interest in continuing to grow its presence in Europe.
The NBA and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) are expecting an explosion of interest for basketball in Europe. Their goal is to grow the sport both in terms of commercial success and sporting competitiveness. Their long collaborative history that spans over 30 years reflects their shared desire to promote the growth of basketball across the continent. The story of the NBA’s development in Europe began way back, with an exhibition game in 1984. Since 1993, the league has taken periodic journeys back for preseason and regular-season contests.
In this year’s January’s NBA Paris Games, San Antonio faced Indiana in a memorable first-ever back-to-back regular season matchup. This was the first time that two NBA teams met in back-to-back regular season games on European soil. It does provide a picture of the league’s increasing clout in the swing state. While on this initial visit, the NBA conducted a number of roundtable discussions with European stakeholders to continue to look at opportunities.
"We are looking very closely to see if there's an opportunity to professionalize the game to another level here, to create a larger commercial opportunity," said Adam Silver.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver during opening remarks at the NBA Paris Games. He claimed that the league is “far ahead” in their plans to increase presence in Europe. The ongoing talks between the NBA and FIBA have intensified since last summer, focusing on potentially establishing an annual competition in Europe or even an NBA-operated league.
"At this week's NBA Board of Governors meeting, the league will report on its exploration of a new men's basketball league in Europe, in partnership with FIBA," stated an NBA spokesperson.
Through strong and thoughtful collaboration, the NBA and FIBA can greatly enrich the European game by applying each organization’s unique experiences, knowledge and assets. This would do wonders in bringing more eyes and fans to the sport of basketball on all corners of Europe.
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