I really enjoy reading Mark Cuban blog. As a basketball (and sport) fanatic and a CEO of a start up company I enjoy reading the tech and sport posts he writes.
A week or so ago he rote a piece about the ambitions of the Euroleague to compete with the NBA.
"Is the NBA showing arrogance by presuming that its our job to build basketball around the world and that we will be the primary beneficiary ? Is our arrogance blinding us to the possibility that we are subsidizing a world class competitor ? I think its something we in the NBA have to consider."
I can see why Mark thinks like this. This is a reaction of a smart business man. But Mark - let me assure you - You don't know the numbers of the European basketball business. The Euroleague is in no way a competitor to the NBA. And no. It's not because the players can get higher salaries in the NBA (actually in a lot of cases it's even the opposite. In Europe they could be superstars earning between one to two million dollars a year, while in the NBA they get less as new players who need to proof themselves).
It's because, unfortunately, basketball in Europe is just not popular enough.
You can count on one hand the number of basketball courts in Europe that can bring 8000 and more fans to a major game. And all those courts are in Greece, Israel and maybe one in Italy and Spain.
Nokia court in Tel Aviv is the only one that brings 10,000 fans for every Euroleague game.
In Europe soccer rules. Completely. In recent years, since the Euroleague was founded the numbers of fans going to games has nor risen but declined.
I wish there was some chance that the Euroleague would ever be as big as the NBA, but in reality TV contracts and merchandize around it are just too insignificant.
So don't worry. More European talents will keep coming to the NBA, and the money will stay in your side of the court.
