Over the past couple of years, there’s been much talk about players leaving the NBA to go play overseas. Stephon Marbury, Sergio Rodriguez, and Juan Carlos Navarro are all notable players who did just that. Even the greats like Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard have recently discussed finishing their career overseas. But what if players did not have to leave the NBA to play overseas?
The National Basketball Association is unquestionably the largest, most marketable, and most competitive basketball league in the world. If Europe can support smaller leagues in Spain, Greece, and Italy, I see little reason as to why places like the United Kingdom can’t support the NBA. It would seemingly benefit both parties involved. The NBA becomes a more internationally recognized brand, gains more fans and followers, and sells more tickets and merchandise. The UK, on the other hand, gets another form of sports entertainment, and earns more income from tourism in addition to income that is generated by a professional franchise. However, there are holes in this argument.
There are 82 regular season games in the NBA over the course of 4/5 months. For players, traveling around the continental United States so much is daunting enough. When you throw Europe into the mix, the toll it takes on players, both mentally and physically, can be dangerous. Injuries are common enough, and this much traveling may just start to water down the talent pool, and wear on players’ bodies.
While there is still a long way to go before the NBA is ready to expand to Europe, it certainly seems like a feasible idea to continue to expand into neighboring countries, like Canada (think Toronto Raptors) in the near future. Nevertheless, the infrastructure to expand into Europe is becoming better and better. While it may take baby steps to get there, it seems like expanding the NBA into Europe seems like only a matter of time.
Do you think the NBA will eventually expand into Europe? How long do you think it will take? Which country will be first and why?
Favorite NBA teams by European Country:
– Brandon Casale
References:
- http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/adam-silver-eyes-4-european-nba-franchises—i-believe-it-s-our-manifest-destiny-to-expand-190532541.html
- http://amherststudent.amherst.edu/?q=article/2014/12/10/82-games-five-months-nba-season-too-long
- http://fansided.com/2014/09/26/top-6-players-nba-lost-overseas/7/
- http://i.imgur.com/PLMJBbs.jpg (Picture)
European Basketball Player Development 
I’m not a fan of the idea of the NBA in Europe, mainly for the fact that you stated above: the wear of tear of player’s bodies from traveling overseas would not only hurt the level of play in the NBA, but also would increase the risk of injuries. While the idea of growing the NBA’s fan base is nice, I believe it would be easier to work out some sort of TV deal that shows games in Europe.
The NBA already has a team in another country, Canada, (Toronto Raptors), but being in continental America, it is not the same hassle that traveling overseas would bring.
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It’s like the NFL, putting a team overseas would be a mistake, despite the international appeal of the NBA. I’m not sure regarding what the NBA has in place regarding international TV deal but I believe they have something in place. The NBA should be kept separate from European basketball in terms of league structure.
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Completely agree. I personally would like to see the NBA expand to Canada more than just one team. The NHL already has franchises in Montreal, Vancouver, and Toronto. Granted there is more support for hockey in Canada, but that doesn’t mean the NBA can’t thrive there as well.
– Brandon Casale
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In my opinion, expanding the NBA overseas is a bit unrealistic. You made the most arguable point, yourself – traveling throughout the United States for a 45-game season is daunting enough. These players are constantly on the go: practicing at home, traveling for games, interviews, etc., and already have little time with their families at home in-season, as is. While expanding to Europe could, in the long run, be profitable for the league, I find the idea far too unrealistic.
On the contrary, I do think it’s possible for the NBA to expand to our neighboring countries. More specifically, in Canada. Canada, like the United States, has a very marketable audience for a league such as the NBA. And, continuing the traveling argument, requiring players to travel to a city, such as Toronto, is not nearly as daunting and far away as traveling to Spain, per say.
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Expanding in Canada could be great and profitable for Canadian cities. Vancouver used to have a team (became the Memphis Grizzles about 1.5 decades ago) and I could see Montreal supported a team as well. Mexico City could also used a team (the NBA has staged multiple exhibition games there). The possibilities are endless in the Western hemisphere but taking the NBA overseas in terms of a franchise would probably be a mistake.
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Expanding into Canada has already occurred. The NBA expanded into Toronto and Vancouver in the 90’s, but the Vancouver franchise failed, and moved to Memphis. Toronto is still a popular team, though. It is interesting that Toronto draws the support of all of Canada. If it were ever feasible to expand the NBA to Europe, they might limit to one team per country so that the team could draw the support of the entire nation.
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Very interesting, I was unaware that the Memphis Grizzlies were formerly from Vancouver. Maybe their demise hindered the NBA’s continued expansion into neighboring cities and countries. Toronto, on the other hand, has been a huge success. They’re currently leading the Atlantic division and have had great success in the past with Vince Carter. The Toronto Raptors are living evidence that foreign cities can sustain an NBA franchise.
– Brandon Casale
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This is a very interesting idea that has the potential to become a huge economic success in Europe. I agree that an NBA style league could attract more fans and thereby, more revenue but I am wary on how the European leagues would organize together and the execution of the national league.
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I think an NBA overseas would also be a threat to European basketball leagues. It would add a potential juggernaut to Euroleague which could make Euroleague more watchable but also make league competition unfair. The biggest trump card to putting a NBA team in Europe is the ridiculous amount of travel associated with travel to and from the United States.
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How would the Euroleague be affected if the NBA were to expand to Europe? Would the NBA somehow merge with the Euroleague or would it be eliminated completely? I think that although the NBA could gain more followers and increase its brand awareness by expanding to Europe, they won’t find as loyal of a fan base as they have in the US. Since there is still not an overwhelming following of Basketball in Europe, it may be optimistic to believe that the NBA will gain support there quickly. I think that if they did expand to Europe, it would take a while to create a steady fan base and the revenues will not be large enough to cover the expansion costs.
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The Euroleague and NBA would definitely not merge, nor do I think that the Euroleague would suddenly fall off the map. They would have to coexist. You’re absolutely right though that the NBA won’t find as loyal of a fan base as they have in the US, at least not in the beginning. Nonetheless, European interest in the NBA is something that I’m sure the front office of the league is keeping a close eye on.
– Brandon Casale
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I would think this is quite unrealistic. Although NBA is expanding its impact in Europe, football is still the most dominant sports in Europe. There only very small portion of people in Europe are following NBA. Also, compare to football once a week, basketball teams normally need to play several games a week. Geographically, it is unrealistic for players to travel to such long distance in such short period of time. In my opinion, in the long run, NBA could seek a new business model with Euroleague to expand its European market.
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Time difference between the United States and Europe for viewers and players would also be brutal. The viewers for the European NBA team(s) would not be that much (in my opinion) and I think it could be tough for a television station to buy into this for market or above-market price for NBA TV deals.
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The expansion of the NBA to Europe is a bit farfetched considering the distance between both. It would be brutal for the players, coaches, and staff to endure traveling overseas often. However the rise of basketball in Europe should help enhance more competitive international competition. It can become a great event, and FIBA and the NBA could take adavantage of such opportunity.
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The economic benefits could be great for both continents, but in terms of the players and coaches, they would struggle to keep up with the American teams and it would potentially show on a year to year basis in the standings.
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I think that too much of an issue is being placed on the “daunting” travel of the NBA, other than the environmental effects off all the plane travel….who cares. If there is money to support the cross country travel of NBA teams, than why not go for it, besides having teams all over the country creates national interest and jobs. An NBA franchise overseas wont happen. and as far as including moving more teams to canada….whats the point, expansion is not needed in the NBA. it should really focus on growing the diversity of its talent and its existing fanbase.
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While expansion may not be needed, a relocation to Canada or Europe may help some teams reinvigorate their franchise. Think about the Seattle SuperSonics relocation to Oklahoma City. OKC is now a force to be reckoned with, with devoted fans and all-stars like Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Who knows, maybe historically bad franchises like the Charlotte Hornets (formerly known as the Bobcats) could benefit from a move to a different city such as Montreal?
– Brandon Casale
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I don’t see having a franchise overseas ever happening in the NBA. First, the only reason any NBA players ever go play overseas is because they aren’t good enough to stay in the NBA. Also any european player that is good enough leaves to come play in the NBA. Second, the travel is no where near feasible. If there was a team overseas that team would be on international flights every other day, which would be ridiculous. Third, the interest level isn’t there in Europe. While Euro league may do well for itself, it is still nothing when compared to the NBA.
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Long story short, the NBA in Europe doesn’t seem viable. However, it would be great to see the NBA partnering with Euroleague teams and see where they can go from there.
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I am confused what the point of this post is. I cannot tell if your trying to say that the NBA should move to Europe or Europe should try to adopt the NBA’s system? I do not think there is a chance that any existing teams in the NBA will move to Europe. Canada has one team in Toronto and that is only because Canada is a lot closer to the U.S. then Europe is. Imagine a LA team traveling 15 hours to get to a game they have to play later that night; I just do not see it happening. I think that Europe’s large cities can support a NBA team, but it is irrational to have a NBA team in Europe. I think it would be interesting to move the D-League to Europe and promote the NBA that way, but even still there would be a lot of factors that would come into play.
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It’s more just exploring the possibility based on current and past European interest but the idea really isn’t feasible in the end. It’s about the idea of seeing how much the NBA can grow all over the world.
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I don’t think it would be a good idea for the NBA to expand into Europe for the same reasons you mentioned. The wear and tear on the players bodies would be too great, creating more of a chance for injury, and putting their careers in danger. I think expanding more into Canada would be a better and more feasible idea. Also possibly having exhibition games over in Europe several times a year, like the NFL, is a possibility, but not a full team.
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The NBA should continuing to have exhibition games before the season all over the world but on a limited basis like they do. It helps the game and players are willing to do it.
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I could definitely see a potential expansion into the European fan base. When we look at the main difference between the NBA and Euro Leagues, we see that the amount of brand equity in the NBA is tremendously greater than in Europe. Also, at the core of the NBA is sponsorships and the brands that its players create for themselves, such as Lebron James, Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant, and Damian Lillard. This is the main difference, and I believe this can translate overseas because of the global image these players have assembled for themselves.
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