NBA to Europe?: The Sports Business Daily (subscription required) is reporting that the NBA is working towards expanding into Europe, led by the former president of Madison Square Garden and a team of international investors.



I wrote a paper on the feasibility of this move a few years ago. My elementary conclusions were that such an expansion would require 4-6 teams in Europe, so that teams could travel for a "European swing," much as they do a West Coast swing, and so that the Europe division could play each other more, reducing travel costs. I also found that there will be some initial growing pains, as many Europeans are very partial to their European league teams and may be reluctant to switch, at least at first. However, the NBA continues to grow in popularity worldwide, and the fact that it features the best players from around the globe will most likely make a European venture successful.

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