Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
NBA taps Vegas’ global appeal to cap in-season tournament
The final games of the group stages of the inaugural NBA In-season Tournament will take place over the next week, meaning the four teams heading to Las Vegas soon will be known.
The tournament’s semifinals and championship game will take place Dec. 7 and Dec. 9 at T-mobile Arena. The NBA expects the first-time event to be a global affair on the Strip.
Fans from 45 states and 25 countries are expected to attend the games held in Las Vegas, with 20 percent of ticket buyers hailing from outside of the U.S., according to the NBA.
The NBA hopes that mix of fans creates something the league hasn’t had in the past for meaningful games, according to Evan Wasch, executive vice president of basketball strategy and analytics for the NBA.
“To create what we hope will be a championship feel in a neutral-site market, with that high level of competitive
intensity of high-level basketball, and then add in the element of Vegas, which is such a unique and special home for basketball and the NBA, we thought all that comes together really nicely,” Wasch said. “The hope is that we can turn it into the destination between Dec. 7 and 9, for basketball fans locally, nationally and globally.”
Although the games are being held at a neutral site, fans of teams who make it to Las Vegas for the final four and title game will have dedicated sections at T-mobile Arena. Once NBA teams make the quarterfinals of the tournament, those tickets will be made available for purchase.
When tickets for tournament semifinal and finals games were initially made available, NBA team season ticket holders drove 70 percent of the sales.
The in-season Tournament is sandwiched between the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix and the Super Bowl, and taking place during a portion of the National Finals Rodeo.
“There’s no doubt that Vegas is one of, if not the, premier destinations for premium events like the in-season tournament,” Wasch said. “It’s great to be able to have a tournament there in a year when so many other premium events are taking place in Las Vegas.”
Games played in Las Vegas will have a different feel. A special court is expected to be in place, similar to those each of the 30 NBA teams have been using during tournament home games. The specially designed courts were created to let fans watching in person and at home know these aren’t your average regular-season games.
The design features a mainly solid color, dependent on the home team, with the NBA Cup at center court. There is also a strip down the center of the court that is dubbed the “runway to Vegas.”
The in-season tournament games are drawing interest. The Nov. 3 games saw the highest average attendance for the second Friday night of the NBA season in 26 years. Year-overyear attendance has spiked 3 percent through the first four weeks of the season.