The NBA is trying to become a global brand, and it has done so very successfully. Basketball, because of the NBA, has become one of the most popular sports in the world, next to Hockey, Soccer, Baseball and Football. The NBA has taken globalization by the horns as it has fully embraced the global market. First with Canada (& the Raptors), then with exhibition games in Europe, Asia and South America, and now maybe another team outside the U.S? When the NBA first came into Canada in 1995, it was slow to embrace the sport, but after 20 years of being in Toronto, Canada has embraced basketball as one of its major sports. The last 2 1st overall picks have been Canadian, the Toronto Raptors are a good basketball team who has made it to the Playoffs 2 years in a row, and now there may be more room for NBA expansion. The NBA will one day, be all over the world, or at least, that is the goal. The NBA is going to expand and there will be more then 30 teams, but not any time soon.
Officials from Montreal met with Adam Silver to discuss the possibility of bringing another team north of the border. According to Le Journal De Montreal:
The meeting took place last January at the NBA offices in New York. It was the former minister and senator Michael Fortier, a lawyer and banker, and Kevin Gilmore, executive vice president of the Montréal Canadiens and right-hand-man of Geoff Molson who found themselves in Mr. Silver’s office….
“I was a pretty good basketball player and I’m still a big fan. I started by helping with NBA exhibition games played in front of sellout crowds at the Bell Center. First one year, then a second. I noted that the clientele was different from the one that we saw at Canadiens matches. I told myself that Montréal, with its appeal, deserved more than two exhibition games,” explained Michael Fortier, yesterday before he left for Scotland….
“We are aware that this is only a first signal sent by the people of Montreal. But we also have to understand that you have to start somewhere. Mayor Denis Coderre is up to date with these first steps and he is encouraging us. The Montréal metropolitan area is a market of more than three million residents. I am convinced that Montréal can support a hockey team, a baseball team, and a basketball team without upsetting existing franchises,” added Mr. Fortier.
Despite no teams being on the verge of moving anytime soon, the possibility of an expansion franchise is possible. Seattle has been begging for a team, they’ll probably be first on the list to get a team. If the NBA decides to allow betting on NBA teams, Las Vegas will definitely have an NBA team. Who knows, maybe in the next decade we’ll have a 32-34 team NBA league. In my opinion, the more teams the merrier, as long as theirs good competition. Adam Silver has a lot of work to do.
