However, speaking in London ahead of today’s historic regular season match-up between the New Jersey Nets and Toronto Raptors at the O2 Arena, Silver said he believes the league has been “building for something big”.
Tonight’s game is the first of two sell-out clashes between the two teams, marking the first regular season NBA games to be played in Europe. They follow the success of pre-season games held in each of the past four years.
“Those years have shown us there is a direct correlation between in-the-ground activation and fan interest. In fact we don’t have games and time in the calendar to satisfy the growing interest,” he told SportBusiness International.
Silver cites the growing maturity and sophistication of the UK fan base as the reason for bringing a regular season game to London. The games will be shown in the UK on ESPN, which has opted to go free-to-air for the weekend.
“The picture of the future is clearer now,” said Silver. “One of the impediments was the lack of (suitable) facilities in Europe. Now these are becoming a reality and the O2 Arena is as any NBA facility in the States.
“When I was watching the LA Lakers versus Minnesota Timberwolves game in London earlier this year I thought for the first time, ‘this could really happen’.”
For the full story, see the April issue of SportBusiness International.
