By Nikola Miloradovic / info@eurohoops.net
NBA Europe will seek to preserve European basketball’s traditions while broadening its audience, according to George Aivazoglou, the NBA’s managing director for Europe and the Middle East.
Speaking at the Sportico Invest London conference, Aivazoglou also stressed that the NBA remains open to discussions with the EuroLeague and other stakeholders who share its vision.
“We’re very serious and consistent in terms of our intention to work with everybody who shares our vision of the future,” Aivazoglou said, per CityAM.
He emphasized that the competition should retain a distinctly European identity.
“It will respect the traditions of the game. The game is being played and enjoyed in a very different way here than in the US,” he said. “We want to keep it traditional and authentic, and keep the soul as it is, but bring in entertainment elements that allow different segments, different audiences to come in.”
Despite uncertainty surrounding negotiations with the EuroLeague, Aivazoglou reiterated that the NBA was “moving ahead with our plans for a launch in the next year.”
“In the last few months we’ve been very close in discussions with EuroLeague to figure out ways to bring them into our ecosystem. A lot of work is happening there, but the NBA’s intent is to work with the existing players who are in Europe.”
Beyond establishing a European competition, Aivazoglou sees an opportunity to build a platform with worldwide reach.
“It will be a global brand and platform. It will transcend Europe. It will feel original in the sense of the European psyche, but it will transcend it in the same way that the NBA transcends the US.”
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