NBA COMING TO LONDON
03/28/2008

The NBA returns to the capital this October as the Miami Heat and the New Jersey Nets go head to head at The O2.

Meanwhile, Commissioner David Stern has revealed London is in line to stage a regular season game too.

"Our third consecutive year of NBA Europe Live is another step in our ongoing effort to bring the excitement of the NBA to our growing fan base," said Stern.

Visit London Chief Executive James Bidwell hailed the return of the NBA Live Tour to London as a "tremendous boost for the capital."

"Last year's sell out game at The O2 attracted visitors from across the UK and Europe," he added "and bolstered London's reputation as the most prestigious global sporting city in the world. Visit London welcomes the return of the NBA to our capital as we continue to attract the best and biggest sporting events in the lead up to and beyond the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games."

Meanwhile, Stern has revealed London is in line to stage a regular season game at the O2 Arena.

In the past, the only place the NBA have been able to play foreign regular league games is in Japan. That's because of the cost involved in compensating their teams for the cash they give up in surrendering a home fixture.

But the new state-of-the-art O2 Arena means a competitive clash in London is a real possibility - maybe as early as next year.

Stern said: "Historically, the economic model has been requiring us to focus mostly on Japan.

"But given the change in economic circumstances, and the new size of the O2 Arena, I think that's a possibility for a regular season game, if we can model it.

"It's very expensive. We have to buy out the regular season gate, TV, concessions, parking, for two regular season NBA games, and that's quite expensive for us.

"Historically, Japan was the only market that could support it, and that's why we did friendlies outside of the United States since then.

"But it's a subject we are going to be revisiting."


See also: Ian Whittel's blog: Will the NBA ever expand into Europe with a multi-team division, taking a full part in the league schedule?

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