In early September, three members of the USA’s 1992 basketball ‘Dream Team’ were enshrined into the NBA’s Hall of Fame - David Robinson, John Stockton and the incomparable Michael Jordan, who wept as he accepted the NBA’s greatest accolade.
For NBA Commissioner David Stern it was a poignant moment which, in many ways, marked a Golden era during which the game he has controlled since 1984 shifted into top gear in both the domestic and US markets.
“The influence of Jordan and the Bulls of that time was enormous. He became, an icon for us at a time when the game was really starting to get growing outside the US,” Stern reflects ahead of the Hall of Fame ceremony.
“In the mid 90s the Bulls played games in Paris, David Robinson and the (San Antonio) Spurs travelled to Paris and Milan and John Stockton played in Japan in the first regular season game played outside the USA,” he says.
“There was a global explosion which has helped us reach a position where the NBA is seen in 215 countries in 41 languages… That’s more countries than are members of the United Nations.”
“Basketball has been an Olympic sports since 1936 when there were 22 teams in the competition. We have been able to plug into a sport that has been played in different countries at different levels for a very long time.”
And, he says, the map of the basketball world is constantly changing. “Ten years ago the final four of the European championships would always include Serbia and three other eastern European teams. That’s not the case now with the rise of basketball in Spain, Germany and Greece among others.”
And the development isn’t restricted to Europe. “We are seeing enormous interest in Africa and the development of athletes from a number of African countries. Altogether we are feeling good about the global development of our sport,” he says.
“We have 10 or 11 foreign language sites and the fact is that NBA.com draw more visitors from outside the USA than within.
“We now have 16 global offices including London, Paris, Madrid, Istanbul, Shanghai and Tokyo. We are in these places because the nature of the business we are in demands we are there. My view is that we need somebody in the market to talk to sponsors and marketing partners. You can’t just give people a game and expect to have them slap it in the air. It is about providing support at every stage, from providing background notes and information and promos and, of course, working on the local language websites.
Perhaps the most obvious sign of global success would be to have NBA franchises operating in cities outside the US and Stern is consistently reminded of an interview he gave a couple of years ago when he says that dream might become a reality within 10 years.
“The international opportunity is interesting... But that is a multi-faceted word. In the past one of the things which has been against the possibility of overseas franchises was the lack of suitable areas. Now there are venues in London, Berlin, Prague and Cologne which would be fine. But having the arenas is one thing. To make it work you also have to have the fan avidity. If you have both those things it gives you more or a play, but I am not sure whether those two things are there right now.”
Whether or not London, Berlin or Paris become home to an NBA team any time soon clearly rests on a combination of factors. And while the Commissioner’s refuses to rule out such a move, it appears the door is more or less shut on any NBA expansion in the immediate future. There is also significant domestic pressure from major cities such as Las Vegas and Seattle to bring NBA action back to their markets, but this doesn’t appear to be a good time for expansionist thinking.
“We start from the premise that 30 teams are sufficient, given the current economic situation in the US,” says Stern. That situation may be causing the NBA and its owners to be more cautious but Stern is generally upbeat. “We are in the middle of a revival in our TV ratings which have been up for the past two years, our on-line audiences are staggering and business is great within the context of wider trends,” he says. “Arena attendance and revenues may be down a couple of per cent but we are in the first year of an eight year television deal which sees us on three networks and we remain strong on local television.”
While Stern remains chipper about the trading prospects for the NBA, it is worth noting that the ‘couple of percent’ fall in revenues could be significantly more. In one interview he said the impact of recession could be far a far more significant 10 per cent. But the NBA may be better positioned than most to ride out the current storm.
Ultimately, a sports league is only as good as its product and that is determined by the players. So even as he reflects on the contributions of Jordan, Robinson and Stockton, Stern is looking to the future. “We are in a new Golden Age now. The world saw it at the Beijing Olympics and will see it again in London in 2012. Yet again we have an extraordinary group of players.”
That group, including Steve Nash and Tim Duncan represent the immediate future of the NBA. The Commish will be there to ensure their talents get the worldwide platform he, the fans and the league’s owners crave.
