Nba’s Stern Announces Deal With Aeg In London
Making its presence known in both the UK and China this weekend, the NBA is strengthening its efforts to be recognised on an international scale.
Although London hosted a pre-season game between Miami Heat and the New Jersey Nets last night, discussions to expand the NBA overseas and include more Europe-based teams (which has been in and out of discussions for the last six years) was not the focus of the agenda this weekend.
Attention was instead set on the Far East, as NBA Commissioner David Stern made a deal with AEG Entertainment Group to design and maintain arenas throughout China’s major cities.
Exactly where the NBA-style stadiums will be built is yet to be determined, according to AEG president and CEO Timothy J. Leiweke, but they will be mostly financed by local governments.
Aiming to offer more than just basketball games, Stern claimed that the arenas will look very much like the O2 – which is also owned by AEG – and have cinemas, theatres and concert halls.
The fact that Stern is casting his eyes to the East is not a surprise, considering the popularity of the sport and the booming economy in China. The NBA already has more than 100 employees in four cities and 15 marketing partners in China.
Though enthusiasm to bring the NBA to the UK is not as strong as the development in China, Stern has expressed a desire to continue attempts in promoting the sport’s popularity here. During his stay in London this weekend, he said that he hopes to have European participation in “the next decade”. For now, however, his hope for UK involvement in the sport rest mostly on increasing awareness leading up to London 2012.
