Coinciding with the NBA’s mass efforts to globalize the game of basketball more than ever before, the Orlando Magic will be a team that plays outside the country this upcoming season.
According to Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel, the Magic are slated to play two of their 82 regular season games in Mexico City this season.
This December, in search of a larger platform, they’ll play a pair of games in one of the world’s largest cities.
In an effort to raise their international profile and to boost Amway’s sales abroad, the Magic will host two regular-season games in Mexico City, the team and the NBA announced. The Magic will face the Chicago Bulls on Dec. 13 and the Utah Jazz on Dec. 15 at the Arena Ciudad de Mexico.
The DeVos family, which owns the Magic, co-founded Amway, and those ongoing ties to Amway played a role in the Magic’s decision to play in Mexico City.
In recent years, the NBA has attempted to take their games to countries outside the United State and those efforts will continue on into next season.
Though Orlando isn’t one of the NBA’s marquee franchises, it still allows the team to gain exposure on an international level. Orlando is in desperate need of any excitement after a disappointing last few years, to say the least. Hopefully playing a couple games in Mexico and young talent in the forms of Jonathan Isaac and top draft pick Mo Bamba will give them a slight boost this upcoming season.
