The NBA's ongoing exploration of expanding its role in European basketball will continue this week at the league's Board of Governors meeting in New York, as Commissioner Adam Silver said earlier this year would be the case.
The NBA and FIBA, the sport's global governing body, have been in ramped-up talks since at least last summer about adding either an annual competition in Europe or even having an NBA-operated league there.
What happens next isn't clear. This much is clear: The NBA and FIBA — who have had a working relationship for decades — have a similar vision about the potential of the game in Europe from both a commercial and competitive standpoint.
“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,” a league spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday released to The Associated Press and other outlets.
In January, speaking at the NBA Paris Games — when the league took advantage of the trip to France to meet with European stakeholders on this very topic — Silver said he believes the NBA remains “on track” in the process of expanding its footprint in Europe. That was also when he said the league’s governors would be briefed further at the March meeting.
“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,” Silver said in January. “And not just because commercial opportunity suggests you can grow revenue, but because we believe that with markets, if you can create proper incentives, you can get significant additional investment. And ultimately, that’s the way to grow the game at all levels.”
The NBA first played an exhibition in Europe in 1984 and has been sending teams there regularly for either preseason or regular-season games since 1993. San Antonio — featuring French star Victor Wembanyama — played Indiana in Paris twice in January, the first time that two NBA teams played back-to-back regular-season games in Europe against one another.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
Tim Reynolds, The Associated Press
