London wants to host future NBA games.
So does Manchester, which features a new state-of-the-art arena in northern England that could become a perfect regular-season venue for Victor Wembanyama, Nikola Jokic or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
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With the NBA Finals set to begin as SGA’s Oklahoma City Thunder face Tyrese Haliburton’s Indiana Pacers in a small-market showdown, one of America’s biggest sports continues to target legitimate international expansion.
NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum said on Monday that London and Manchester are both hoping to bring regular-season games for the biggest basketball league in the world to England.
Tatum also revealed that London Mayor Sadiq Khan has been pushing for months for the NBA to re-connect with a global city that recently hosted LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Team USA at The 02 during exhibition games that led to a gold medal in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
“Basketball is the fastest growing sport in the UK, the country’s second most popular team sport,” Tatum said.
“I did meet with Mayor Sadiq Khan in September, and we discussed our shared ambition to expand basketball in London.
“He was clearly pushing me for return of games back to London. And I do think that that’s something that will happen in the not too distant future.”
The NBA is trying to catch up to the all-powerful NFL in the modern push for international expansion.
The biggest ‘next step’ for The Association would be the creation of an NBA European league.
Growth of basketball in England is critical for that step to occur.
“There are no top-tier teams in the UK,” Tatum said.
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“We think that there has to be, because we know that the demand –that the number of fans in the UK, that the size of the market — that we have to service those fans.”
Enter Manchester, which hosts two Premier League clubs and features the $400 million Co-op Live arena.
The NBA has previously been linked with Manchester games, yet dates have not been made official.
Tatum made it clear that Manchester has caught the NBA’s eye, and praised an arena that initially suffered a string of embarrassing delays.
“There has been interest from Manchester, as well, to host an NBA game,” Tatum said.
“They built a beautiful, brand new indoor arena in Manchester.”
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Tatum added that London also features an “indoor world-class arena” that the NBA has played in before.
“The facilities are not the issue,” he said.
But it is obvious that while London attempts to lock in the NBA for future games, the allure of Manchester’s new arena has become hard to ignore.
“We haven’t announced our plans to come back for Europe yet,” Tatum said.
“But I would say it’s a good bet that the UK will be in that mix.”
The easiest play for the NBA would be hosting games in London and Manchester, but that could lessen overall ticket demand.
The NBA previously played in London from 2011-19 at The 02.
A New Jersey Nets team featuring Brook Lopez and Deron Williams beat a Toronto Raptors squad including DeMar DeRozan and Andrea Bargnani 116-103 on March 4, 2011.
The Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets, Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers and Pacers also played at the 02 before the London Game series ended.
Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Thunder and Pacers is Thursday in Oklahoma City.
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