The NBA’s two-game foray in Mexico City this month may only be a small sign of things to come, as commissioner Adam Silver sounds bullish on the league’s future in Mexico, citing a competitive market and “state-of-the-art arena” to hold NBA games. Prior to Saturday’s match-up between the Suns and Spurs, Silver addressed opportunities to expand in Mexico.
“In terms of a franchise in Mexico City, it’s something that we’re going to look at,” Silver told reporters, including Michael C. Wright of ESPN. “While we have no immediate plans to expand the NBA, one of the things that we look at is whether expanding would be additive to the league as a whole…of course we’ve had these two regular-season games, and whether we bring additional regular-season games in the next season or do some sort of tournament where you bring over a group of teams and they all play each other in some format — that’s something that we’re looking at.”
The league’s two-game excursion to Mexico City was undoubtedly a success. 20-year-old Devin Booker raised his international profile by recording back-to-back 39-point games, leading Phoenix to an upset win over the Spurs. What’s more, players didn’t have to deal with burdensome time changes as they do for games in Europe. While the NBA’s market has been slow to develop in the UK (Brits have an “ambivalent attitude” toward U.S. sport, Ian Chadbank of ESPN writes), it seems there is immediate potential for growth in Mexico.
So what do you think: would the NBA benefit from their second non-U.S. team? Would tournament format games in Mexico City make sense for the 2017/18 season?
Let us know in the comments section!
It might be a good idea,never know.
Good insight