TWO OVERTIMES, BUT DISAPPOINTMENT
The Bucks may be from Milwaukee, but they belong to the whole world
TORONTO – Back in December, one of the world’s greatest soccer players, Neymar, posted a picture on his Instagram account of him enjoying a meal out with his family. The post got 1.8 million “likes.”
Neymar was wearing a Giannis Antetokounmpo jersey.
Half a world away, the people of Milwaukee and Wisconsin are going crazy for the Bucks this season and playoffs, wearing Fear the Deer gear everywhere you look.
But there are 750 million NBA fans globally, and only 8% of those are in the U.S.
And the fact is, the Milwaukee Bucks don’t belong to us.
They belong to the world.
Or more specifically:
❚ The Philippines. The people of the Philippines love basketball and when the international audience for the NBA is even measured, the Philippines regularly ranks first or second, said Bucks chief marketing officer Dustin Godsey. “Basketball is such a part of the culture,” said Godsey. “Everyone grows up playing basketball.”
❚ Greece, of course, where Antetokounmpo
grew up, is the No. 1 country outside the U.S. that visits bucks.com.
❚ The Philippines is next, followed by Canada (even before the Eastern Conference finals against Toronto), Spain and the United Kingdom.
❚ Germany, France, Canada and the United Kingdom. These are the top countries to visit the pro shop online; 193 countries have visited the merchandise website overall.
❚ Brazil, Taiwan and Mexico are the other top countries that follow the Bucks on social media.
❚ Even Mongolia checks in at No. 13 and the Bucks and the NBA are seeing a lot of growth in India.
They’re all following the Bucks on Facebook, far and away the most dominant social media platform globally for NBA followers, said Godsey, and 74% of those Bucks followers are international, said Godsey.
And then there’s China.
China has more NBA fans than anyone and the Bucks have 4 million followers in China on Sina Weibo – the country’s social media website. Godsey said that’s a bigger audience than all the rest of the social following for the Bucks.
And the Bucks are No. 8 in the league in Weibo followers.
No matter where the fans live, it’s also easier than ever to follow the Bucks as they tear through the playoffs.
Bucks forward Ersan Ilyasova is from Turkey and his sister Nellie will sometimes get up at 4 a.m. to watch Bucks games on NBA “League Pass” from Turkey.
“These days it’s so global, it’s easy to go online and watch the streaming,” said Ilyasova. “Sometimes my family does record the games with League Pass. They will watch them later even if they already know the results from checking online.”
When Ilyasova, who has played in the NBA for more than a decade, sees fans in the stands visiting all the way from Turkey, it also means a lot to him.
“They fly to Chicago and come up to Milwaukee and I’ll see the Turkish flag,” said Ilyasova. “Being an international player, seeing the Turkish flag is a big thing. I represent my country in some small way.”
The Bucks are representing everywhere now. Antetokounmpo’s No. 34 jersey is the third-most sold, and Bucks merchandise is fifth-highest in the league – and some of those sales are coming from abroad.
“The Giannis effect has certainly grown our numbers in Greece,” said Godsey. “There’s certainly an affinity there.
“But he’s such a global icon. People in Greece are buying his jerseys, but that’s something that people worldwide are clamoring for.”
It’s also made Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer something of a global figure. In Greece, he’s a household name.
And Budenholzer makes a face as if to say he’s skeptical when he hears that.
“You have a player like Giannis who just kind of transcends – whether it be Milwaukee, or Wisconsin or United States – he’s a player that the whole world is excited about,” said Budenholzer. “And fascinated by.
“I think the success of our team, the way we play, I’m hopeful there’s more people around the world that appreciate us.
“I think we have a good collection of international players. Organizationally, there’s a good respect for international players, international coaches. Hopefully that all adds up to people taking an interest in us everywhere.”
The support from home means everything to Nikola Mirotic, who was just acquired by trade in February.
His family also gets up at 2 or 3 a.m. to watch in his home country of Montenegro.
“They’re watching all the games; my mom, dad, brother, the rest of the family. A lot of friends overseas,” said Mirotic.
“But it feels great, you know? Because after the games, they send you a message. When they talk to you it’s like, man, I had some people behind me, supporting me. I’m still connected even though I’m so far from all of my family.
“I’m just thankful for all of that support.”
And they’ve made the long 24-hour trip here as well. His parents and fatherin-law made the two-, three-stop journey from Montenegro, missed a flight and had to sleep in the airport.
“It was like 46 hours of traveling and they went straight to the game without sleeping, without basically eating,” said Mirotic. “They went straight to the game just to support me.It was great.”
Could the Bucks make Milwaukee a tourist destination? A new arena in Fiserv Forum; a likely MVP in Giannis? Will people come here from all over the world – even with the bad weather during half of the basketball season?
Godsey, who oversees all digital and traditional advertising and all content development, has seen some anecdotal evidence of that:groups of fans from Australia, and tickets to games sold all over the world.
“The international audience is really important for us,” said Godsey. “So much of our audience is international. It’s really an opportunity for us to showcase Milwaukee on a global stage.
“At least we have the reputation for making people feel welcome.
“More than welcome. Before I came, they told me Wisconsin ... was going to be very friendly. I was like OK, I would love that.
“And I feel that love from the guys. Everywhere on the streets. Restaurants. My building. Everybody is friendly. They are all supporting the team. They’re all fans of the Bucks, which is great.
“And it’s good to have all the international players on the team, like Giannis from Greece. Pau Gasol from Spain. Ersan from Turkey — which is a little bit like European style. Which is awesome.
“Feels like home.”