Why Paris is the best city to host NBA Global Games The French capital is much more akin to the States than London
Since 2011, the NBA has played every year, with the exception of the 2012-13 season, a regular-season game in Europe. The event is part of the framework of the NBA Global Games, the series of preseason events and regular-season games that the NBA is playing around the world trying to expand its brand as much as possible. A brand whose value - not being the NBA a public company - is not public, but which Forbes’ reports estimate is around 8 billion dollars for 2018: still lagging behind the GIANTS MLB and NFL, and which in recent years has undergone some slight decline (TNT has seen its ratings drop by 22% and ESPN by 5%, relevant data given the huge impact of TV in the revenues of the league). The exploration of alternative markets to the domestic one is therefore essential for the NBA. For Europe, the choice has always fallen on London, because, according to Commissioner Adam Silver:
«One of the reasons London is considered to be so important is that it appears to be, for us, a hub in Europe. It’s easily accessible for people from throughout Europe. This particular facility, the O2 arena, last I looked is the highest grossing arena in the world».
Then Brexit happened and this year the regular-season match of the Global Games, moved to Paris. A city whose arena, the AccorHotel, is not at The O2 levels, but is right on many levels to host the NBA.
The first time of the NBA in Paris was memorable. The teams involved in the game, Charlotte and Bucks, had a different, but still sensible, appeal. On one side was the reigning MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo, on the other hand Michael Jordan's team, the only one to wear Jordan Brand, whose star is a French player, Nicholas Batum. Even the location of the NBA House - in the heart of Paris' Le Marais neighborhood, one step away from Supreme, BAPE and the city's major stores - restored the feeling of a context that was perfectly relevant to a huge industry like the NBA. Everything in the NBA, from The Air Force 1 customization organized by Foot Locker, to interviews with NBA players to the chances of winning gadgets and buying merch, have tried to draw the public closer and mix it with that streetculture.
The pitch also helped with the success of the operation, with an open and balanced game, which allowed the public to be able to observe Giannis' supernatural talent live for the first time. In the front row instead Neymar and Mbappe, with at their feet two of the most anticipated releases of the year: the Off-White™ x Air Jordan 5 and "Air Dior" respectively. The two stars of PSG are now the best possible NBA spot for Europe, the perfect symbol of the contamination between two sports that arise from very different cultural origins, but that will end up talking more and more, opening new opportunities for the NBA brand.
