Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Stern's New Idea
The NBA has a new idea which will increase the number of teams. The difference than any other team that has been created is these new teams will be in Europe. Six teams are being discussed on joining the NBA. The issue would be that the time zone adjustments wouldn’t be fair so teams would need enough time to adjust . The teams would be in the Euro Division and the teams would be in Italy, Spain, France, England, Turkey and Greece. The plane ride would be 8 hours so the league needs to establish a sense of fairness when taking everything into consideration. The season would be shortened to 70 games instead of 82 because of this adjustment. Stern feels that if they shortened the schedule it would be worth it because it would “add the global market to the league “.Stern’s argument is that “world has caught up” to the NBA. http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=Algr2H31tsf8q1ba4gF02EU5nYcB?slug=ks-europe101507&prov=yhoo&type=lgns. The NBA would spend 2 weeks before and after the all-star break to play the games. Although The NBA is already watered down in talent, these new teams would dilute the league even more. The past two MVPs came from Canada and Germany. There are so many great foreign players in the NBA that the future Dirk, Manu or Tony Parker can play with their own team and compete. Many Americans don’t think that the European teams will be able to contend. They will! They have so many good future players that will arise that the NBA will have some tough opponents. Maybe it won’t be the first couple of years but once the European league understands the style of the NBA, the game will get very appealing and it will be interesting to see which teams will be battling of the championship.
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7 comments:
Kevin, I agree with your point that the NBA probably needs to expand its market globally. The NBA has been struggling ever since the Bulls dynasty broke up. The NBA has been searching for a face of the league and hasn't really found anyone up to the challenge. Expanding to Europe will give the NBA a worldwide following, something few other professional sports can boast. It will take the European teams a while to adjust to the American style of play. However there is enough European talent to make these teams legitimate contenders one day. The NBA needs these teams to be able to compete.
This is an interesting argument and I have gone back and forth with this one. But in the end I don’t think it would be good for the game. First of all I feel like it would be the USA vs. Europe even though the teams are diverse I feel like it would be like the Olympics. Also the reason why they are competitive is because usually when you see the foreign teams its guys who are the best players in their country and this won’t be like that so it won't be competitive. And the main part is that the NBA players would hate it. They complain going across country. This would be going across the world and wouldn’t be fair to teams. Even though people don’t like the NBA now it’s getting better because the young players are really getting the NBA back on its feet. They don’t need to go to Europe to expand the NBA. It’s an American league and should stay that way.
Kevin, this is a very interesting finding and I am glad you brought it up. I have to disagree with you about expanding the NBA to Europe. The NBA is an American league and that is what makes it unique. The European players should have to come here if they want to play in the NBA because that is the way it has always been. I understand that the NBA wants to expand more globally, but this isn't the answer. First of all I don't think a lot of people would want to watch the games that are played in Europe. Although, the world has caught up to the NBA the recent USA basketball team destroyed the competition. This was an All-Star team, but I think that the games would still correlate. Also, I tend to agree with Brian in that the NBA players would hate it. They shouldn't have to go to Europe and play teams they shouldn't have to play. The 82 game system is fine and decreasing it to 70 would take some teams out of playoff position very early in the season. It is a bad idea and I hope the commissioner thinks about the aftermath.
Money wise and marketing wise, this would be a great idea for the NBA and would just add to David Stern's list of great achievements. But, for the game itself, I do not think that this would work out so well. As Goren said, it would seem like the USA vs Europe and the players would hate going overseas over and over again. But if Stern is looking at this in just a marketing move, the he would be doing wonders for the leauge. He would be making so much money with attendence in other arenas in Europe and for TV Coverage in Europe as well.
Kevin, I like the idea of expanding the NBA, but I don't agree with the timing. I don't think the NBA is ready to have teams in Europe yet. I don't think it has anything to do with talent at all, I just don't feel that it would take off as much as Stern is saying because honestly I don't think the rest of the world caught up. Also I think six teams would be a little much. Maybe five teams at the most when the idea gets refined a bit more.
sorry, I accidently pushed publish instead of preview. Anyways, I respect Stern's idea of expanding the NBA, but I don't think the NBA teams will like the idea of decreasing their home games to go overseas. Looking at the business end you have to acknowledge the NBA as a business and losing 12 home games would greatly diminish the ticket sales revenue, and no owner is going to stand for that. I like the idea, but I don't think it is anywhere close to being able to put it into action.
I like how you brought up that the past two MVP's have been from Canada and Germany. There is so much talent in Europe. Real Madrid recently beat the toronto raptors, a playoff team from last year. I feel the league should sort of test it out over the next few seasons and see how those games go. If the players and fans are happy and money is being made than I see no reason why the NBA shouldnt consider more teams and expansion to Europe a possibility.
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