SPECIAL REPORT: UK in Need For More NBA, According to iSporconnect Discussion
April 10, 2015
The UK is crying out for more basketball, order particularly from the NBA – that’s according to the results of iSportconnect’s Live Discussion this week.
iSportconnect discussed the topic of the growth of the NBA together with Euroleague in the European region but it was the UK market that was apparently the most neglected.
The NBA were in London in January this year and sold out the O2 Arena in Greenwich when the New York Knicks took on the Milwaukee Bucks.
Bearing that in mind though, ampoule there is still not a huge amount of participation at grassroots level – which Romain Hanskens (@teamfrozzie) put down to a variety of factors:
Success in growing the game worldwide could be down to pushing certain individuals, price such as LeBron James.
The Cleveland Cavaliers star was influential in Miami Heat’s championship wins in the last four years, and his return to Cleveland has seen them surge to this season’s playoffs.
Sports journalist Ian Hodge pointed out just how significant James’s impact had been:
Elsewhere, the future of adidas was put into question after it was discussed how they would be ending their parternship with the NBA.
Their deal runs out in 2017 and Nike and Under Armour have been touted as potential replacements:
So what do you think? Does the UK need more marketing from big basketball organisations like NBA and Euroleague or should growth be driven solely by the government?
GB basketball had to secure emergency funding last year of around £1.4 million.
And what’s next for adidas? Does the end of their NBA partnership spell trouble for the company? It means from 2017 they will no longer be partnering with a major national league in the US.
Join in the discussion and watch our interview with NBA Managing Director and Senior Vice President, EMEA, Benjamin Morel.