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    NBA Europe Live now

    on the BBC red button.

    Why are they playing in London? I would have thought France, Italy, Spain, Greece or Turkey would have been a more appropriate choice for hosting this.

    #2
    NBA Europe Live now

    The Jazz are going to play Real Madrid in Madrid later this week. The idea is to move the games around over time, and they have already hit all of the places you mention (except Greece) on multiple occasions.

    The inaugural NBA Europe Live in 2006 featured the Los Angeles Clippers, Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs playing preseason games in Barcelona, Moscow, Rome, Paris, Lyon and Cologne. NBA Europe Live returned in 2007 with the Boston Celtics, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves and Toronto Raptors visiting Rome, Madrid, London and Istanbul. In 2008, the Miami Heat faced the New Jersey Nets in London and Paris, while the New Orleans Hornets played the Washington Wizards in Barcelona and Berlin.

    There's also the tie-in with Luol Deng playing for the Bulls.

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      #3
      NBA Europe Live now

      Kowalski wrote:
      on the BBC red button.

      Why are they playing in London? I would have thought France, Italy, Spain, Greece or Turkey would have been a more appropriate choice for hosting this.
      Maybe they see those markets as saturated.

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        #4
        NBA Europe Live now

        I don't think that's it.

        If the NBA is ever going to expand outside of North America, or create some kind of "NBA Europe" that isn't part of the league per se, it is going to have identify multiple markets capable of sustaining franchises. Having only one or two teams located six to nine time zones away from the rest of the league just isn't going to work logistically.

        Then there's the question of arenas. As we've discussed before on ice hockey threads, the O2 is one of the relatively few European arenas that is "NBA ready" in terms of size, luxury boxes, etc. The 02 in Berlin and the Palais Ominsports Bercy are two of the others (which is why they featured in last year's tour). The enlarged and renovated arena in Madrid probably just makes the cut. There is nothing in Italy or Turkey that does, and Greece and Russia pose additional logistic burdens.

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          #5
          NBA Europe Live now

          Anything big enough in Vilinius? I'm sure they would go apeshit for NBA there.

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            #6
            NBA Europe Live now

            No. The largest arena in Lithuania holds only 11,000.

            I also don't see the NBA being seriously interested in such a small market, no matter how hoop crazy they may be.

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