By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)
The NBA has been attempting to build their
product around the world by playing some exhibition games around the globe in
recent seasons. This past season the New York Knicks and Detroit Pistons played
in London in front of a sold-out frenzy crowd. The NBA has a lot of events in
China as well with the help of Yao Ming to help gain exposure there as well.
The NBA will continue having teams play
abroad and will be adding another location for the 2013-2014. The Atlanta Hawks
and Brooklyn Nets will play a regular-season game at the O2 Arena in London
January 16th as part of the NBA Global Games London 2014.
This will be the third trip that the
Nets make to London, as they had a preseason game there in 2008 and played two
regular season games there in 2011 with the Toronto Raptors. This will be the
Hawks first regular season game outside of North America, as they partook in
two preseason games in London in 1993.
"We are very excited to once again represent the NBA in London," Nets general manager Billy King said in a statement. "The fans have always been very supportive, and we look forward to once again entertaining them with Brooklyn Nets basketball."
"We are very excited to once again represent the NBA in London," Nets general manager Billy King said in a statement. "The fans have always been very supportive, and we look forward to once again entertaining them with Brooklyn Nets basketball."
The NBA also announced that the San
Antonio Spurs and Minnesota Timberwolves would play a regular season game
December 4th in Mexico City. This will mark the first time that the
NBA will stage multiple games in countries outside of North America and Canada
in the same season.
"Given the deep-rooted Mexican heritage of San Antonio and our proximity to the Mexican border, Mexico City is an ideal location for us to play our first regular-season game outside of the United States and Canada," said Rich Pych, the Spurs' president of business operations when asked about it.
The only negative thing about playing games outside of the regular NBA confines is that one team will lose out on the profits of a home game. For the Hawks and Timberwolves it may make sense to travel abroad though as it may actually give them a chance to make more revenue than they would for a regular home game as they do not draw particularly well. Havin two high profile teams in the Nets and Spurs respectively taking them on should only help them draw well.
"Given the deep-rooted Mexican heritage of San Antonio and our proximity to the Mexican border, Mexico City is an ideal location for us to play our first regular-season game outside of the United States and Canada," said Rich Pych, the Spurs' president of business operations when asked about it.
The only negative thing about playing games outside of the regular NBA confines is that one team will lose out on the profits of a home game. For the Hawks and Timberwolves it may make sense to travel abroad though as it may actually give them a chance to make more revenue than they would for a regular home game as they do not draw particularly well. Havin two high profile teams in the Nets and Spurs respectively taking them on should only help them draw well.
No comments:
Post a Comment