By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Like the boy who cried wolf, every now and then the NBA is bringing back on the table the possible expansion of the league in Europe. The same happened two weeks ago, during the “traditional” regular season London game between the Nets and the Hawks. It’s a scenario which many considered far fetched – most recently Dallas’ owner Marc Cuban said so – but on the same time seems to be the natural evolution of the best basketball league in the world.
As new commissioner Adam Silver said during the “Sports industry breakfast” event at London in the 16th of January: “Something that David Stern has talked about over the years is a potential division in Europe and I said something last month that led people to believe I was alluding to divisions, so I guess we don’t use divisions here, but I think we have a core group of teams in Europe and we are seeing a following at the O2, in Berlin. We’re seeing the revamping of the arena in Paris and once we have in place that core infrastructure of arenas there is an opportunity to potentially have a division here. We know the interest exists. I wrote down that I couldn’t agree more with LeBron James. He said (NBA is) the number one sports brand in the world and that is a great way to capture the NBA. So we see opportunity, there is no question. I think working with our team owners and working with our partners we might be able to take it to the next level”.
Eurohoops reached the NBA for further comments, however at this point nothing else can be said about the expansion plans. Still many insiders in Europe believe that the top teams of the continent are ready and waiting for the NBA and that’s not something new. One of the most prominent basketball personalities in Europe, Zeljko Obradovic, stated back in 2012 to the Spanish magazine “Gigantes Del Baloncesto”: “For the Americans, the flight from New York to London is same as flight from New York to Los Angeles. So, why do you think they would have a problem putting up new NBA division in London, Paris and Spain? I am sure they think about it as a way to move forward and develop their product. I think we must act accordingly and improve our product before it’s too late”.
Despite the expansion’s time table being at least vague, the NBA is bound to come, as Silver said in the “Sports industry breakfast”: “I mean less than 5% of the world’s population is in the United States and we are increasingly going to global. There are titans of business who own teams in the NBA and they recognize that… On the other hand our arenas are broadcast studios too so it is not going to help to have an empty arena at 9am on a Monday when it is prime time in China so it is a constant battle”. However, in Europe the gap between time zones is a lot smaller and every one has to realize “small market” teams in the USA, for example the San Antonio Spurs, are practically a great brand in Paris and France in general.
The Euroleague question
What will happen to Euroleague if the NBA comes knocking? Despite baby steps of progress, at this point every major club of Euroleague is losing money. That’s why most clubs are welcoming the idea of a European NBA. It’s not something new. The rumor that Panathinaikos had already such a discussion dates back to 2004, when then owner of the Greek team Pavlos Giannakopoulos had dinner with NBA executives during the Athens Olympic Games. In 2006 Real Madrid made an informal proposal to David Stern himself about a European division. Almost ten years latter, we are still at the same point, but with Euroleague not creating the expected revenues after 13 years of existence, big clubs are seeing the NBA as the only viable financial solution for their future prosperity.
Euroleague, on the contrary to the NBA, couldn’t find a way to create a presence in the British basketball market and according to the latest rumors from France, CEO Jordi Bertomeu is trying to lure Paris Saint German club into creating a basketball section in collaboration with Paris Levallois and get a wild card for the next five seasons. As British basketball is facing its own financial crisis on federation level – and we couldn’t agree more with Rob Scott’s point of view on the matter – and the situation in France is still undecided, Euroleague can’t expect any major growth during the foreseeable future.
That means the best case scenario for Euroleague will be for the NBA to incorporate it and use it as its European division. However, it’s safe to say that NBA will not do something like that. The American league would prefer to deal directly with big clubs which will be ready to invest into new arenas, or modify existing ones according to the NBA standards, and create franchises from scratch only where they are needed, practically only in Paris and London. London, Istanbul and Berlin have already NBA ready gyms so the pieces of the puzzle are slowly coming together.
Τhere’s no question that NBA will change the European basketball landscape and that most big European clubs will welcome its presence, even if that means leaving completely behind them their domestic leagues. The only question at this point seems to be when…