It’s arguably not quite as aggressive as – and is somewhat different to – the NFL’s strategy, but it is a strategy nonetheless. Obviously, one of the keys to that is bringing the games to international fans, and the NBA has been doing that now for forty years. The first preseason NBA game abroad took place in Milan in 1984. Six years later, the NBA tried its ‘Tokyo experiment’ by bringing regular season games to Japan each year.
While regular season games take place in Mexico each year, it’s also no secret that the NBA has its sights set on France as a fertile market for growth. The Western European country is arguably the key region for the NBA’s international strategy, and it shows. In January, the league will be bringing two regular season games to Paris. Its also bringing its not-so-secret weapon to win over French fans, Victor Wembanyama.
The games between the San Antonio Spurs and Indiana Pacers will be 4th and 5th played in the French Capital since 2020, and it will be the first time a doubleheader is played there. It also marks France as being the preferred partner ahead of the UK. London’s 02 Arena held nine NBA regular season games across the 2010s, but it has held none since 2019.
Spurs will bring rising star Wembanyama home
The Global Games (as the NBA calls its international fixtures) do matter in terms of building broader engagement. Looking at this season’s NBA odds, it doesn’t feel like the Pacers vs. Spurs matchup is going to be between two championship contenders come January (the doubleheader is scheduled for the 23rd and 25th of January), but it still pits two interesting teams together, and there is also the Wembanyama factor.
Last season’s Rookie of the Year is probably the most talked about teenager in global basketball. He has the goods to become an elite-level star, perhaps even a once-in-a-generation talent. The fact he was born within a half-hour’s drive of the Accor Arena in Paris is a huge deal, and it’s also a huge marketing opportunity for the NBA. The NBA has had plenty of great French players, including one of the best defensive players currently in the league, Rudy Gobert. But Wembanyama has that extra-high ceiling.
The French youth system is churning out quality players
We should also note that the No.1 and No.2 NBA Draft picks this year, Zaccharie Risacher and Alex Sarr, are French. With Tidjane Salaun drafted at No.6, it meant that three of the top 10 draftees were French. It’s an incredible swing, and it clearly underlines the French youth system is on the rise. That, arguably more than bringing games to the country, will be the key to unlock the market in France for the NBA.
There is a logic to the rise in France’s young talent pool. While soccer still leads the country in terms of participation, there is definitely space for growth in basketball participation among the younger population, including the youthful immigrant population. We’d argue, too, that the French schools system is a little more flexible and amenable to basketball than the more rigid UK, where schools tend to be married to soccer, rugby, and cricket. The NBA, too, has pumped money and resources into grassroots-level basketball in France.
NBA must look to other countries for expansion
Of course, it would be illogical for the NBA to throw everything at France. From Australia to China to Central Africa to Eastern Europe, there is a growing appetite for basketball, and it’s not as if the NBA wants to create a 51st state and leave it there. But the prize seems attainable and inevitable in France. The young players are coming through, there is a fertile market for broadcasting, and a population keen to participate as fans. It makes a lot of sense that the NBA is increasing its presence, and it looks like it’s going to be a strategy that comes off.
