Bucks at center of overseas mission
Before their respective cities host the Democratic and Republican conventions at the arenas where Giannis Antetokounmpo and Devonte’ Graham throw down dunks, the Milwaukee Bucks and Charlotte Hornets are meeting in Paris.
Why go all the way to the City of Light, seven time zones from Milwaukee, to play 48 minutes of basketball?
Because the Bucks and the Hornets are part of the NBA’s strategy – one dribble, one free throw, one 3-point shot at a time – to boost the league’s popularity in Europe.
This might be a surprise to Bucks fans in Wisconsin, but the French love hoops.
France is the No. 1 market for NBA merchandise sales, which means there are plenty of people wearing Giannis’ No. 34 jersey in the country, and they’re not simply visitors from Greece.
France is also the No. 2 market – behind only the United Kingdom – in Europe for NBA League Pass subscriptions featuring all NBA game broadcasts, and the league’s broadcast partner in France, beIN SPORTS, airs seven games each week plus a nightly highlights show called “NBA Action.”
Fans in France must stay up late to watch live games, though, which is one of the reasons the NBA has scheduled a regular season game in Europe for many years. Friday’s contest – which tips off at 3 p.m. ET, 9 p.m. Paris time – is the 92nd NBA game in Europe, the most outside North America.
In 2015 the Bucks played the Knicks in London and managed to quickly sell out the O2 Arena in a country where most people kick a ball rather than dribble it.
“Having regular season games in Europe galvanizes our fans and our partners,” said Ralph Rivera, managing director of NBA Europe and Middle East.
“It’s an amazing experience and it’s part of our strategy to bring live games into the market.”
The NBA last played in France during the preseason in 2010; this is the first regular-season game in Paris.
Tickets to Friday’s game at AccorHotels Arena quickly sold out. On StubHub on Monday, tickets were available for 250 Euros to 3,000 Euros, anywhere from $277 to $3,300 apiece.
When the NBA announced the game last March it created a web page for people to register their interest in tickets and got more than 150,000 clicks, Rivera said in a recent phone interview.
Traveling to Paris will help the Bucks raise their international profile – which is already significant, thanks to the NBA’s MVP known as the Greek Freak.
“To be on the global platform in Paris will bring our brand out of North America and into Paris,” said Bucks president Peter Feigin. “We’ll have our team with ‘Milwaukee’ across the chest (on uniforms,) playing a regular season game in Paris. It’s a great advertorial to how great this city is.”
A quarter of the NBA is foreign born
The first game featuring an NBA team in Paris dates to 1991 when the Lakers edged a squad from Spain.
The next year the Dream Team led by Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird won a gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics, the catalyst for the NBA’s global popularity that continues to resonate almost three decades later.
Among those watching the 1992 Olympics were future NBA All-Star players Dirk Nowitzki and Tony Parker. What had been a trickle of foreign players in the NBA slowly grew until now almost a quarter of the league players are foreign-born – 108 players from 38 countries and territories were on this season’s opening-night rosters.
There are 11 French players in the NBA including Charlotte’s Nicolas Batum. In fact, France has been the most represented European country in the NBA since the 2007-08 season.
Aside from Antetokounmpo, last season’s rookie of the year, Dallas’ Luka Dončić hails from Slovenia and defensive player of the Year Rudy Gobert is French.
Feigin attributes his team getting the nod for Paris to the Bucks’ great records over the last few seasons, including coming within a game of going to the NBA Finals.
Plus, in addition to the Antetokounmpo brothers, the Bucks’ roster includes players from Croatia and Turkey.
“We’ve been an international team for a long period of time, retaining international players. We’ve been one of the more competitive teams over the last two years. We have the ability to be a championship-caliber team,” said Feigin.
Aside from Friday’s game, the NBA is organizing clinics for French youths through its Jr. NBA program and NBA House, a free fan event with appearances by mascots and NBA legends, which will be open through Sunday.
The Jr. NBA youth basketball program features leagues in 31 countries in Europe and the Middle East for 42,000 boys and girls. The NBA is hoping many of those youths will grow up to be fans, buying merchandise, watching games and cheering for teams based half a world away.
Rivera acknowledges that soccer remains the world’s No. 1 sport but quickly adds that basketball is the No. 2 sport in Europe.
“I don’t look at soccer as competition necessarily, but I do look at it aspirationally,” said Rivera. “From a culture and lifestyle brand perspective, I believe we appeal to a younger, more urban, up-and-coming generation.
“As we progress, I think we will close that gap” with soccer.