Mark Cuban
I wanted to highlight Mark Cuban’s views on the move of NBA players to Europe. I think he is on to something here regarding the potential for creating competition for the NBA and from it tournaments showcasing these new rivalries.
Let me explain why. Lets say for the sake of example a couple players got 25mm, 50mm or whatever a year pay and they play on teams that just dominate. They rip apart every team they face. What happens next ? People wonder who the best teams in the world are. When that discussion becomes serious, the NBA and those winning overseas teams get paid.
European Soccer has done a phenomenal job of inventing tournaments that drive huge revenues and TV dollars. This would allow the NBA to do the same thing. Take a Christmas break, or do it in the summer , where the top 6 records in the league play the top 6 teams over there , with the revenues from the event being split primarily among the participant teams rather than equally among all NBA teams. Not only would that be a great revenue source for all the teams involved, but it would create a huge economic incentive for the other 24NBA teams and all overseas team to become top tier teams.
Then of course we could create our own World Cup type tournament every 4 years.
I have to admit, a World Cup for Basketball would be incredible. We look forward to the Olympics enough as it is, but there is something special about the World Cup. If Basketball is the next sport to do the same thing, it could really lockup the ranking of the second most popular sport in the world.
*image source: newsday.com
Comments:
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I think we are slowly moving that way, an in the end it will be good for the sport of basketball. There are a few issues that need to be fixed like FIBA rules, not abiding by NBA rules whih I think is somewhat ridiculous, considering the sport was invented here, and in my opinion most of the differences are in favor of the NBA. Aside from that however, it will only draw more attention to the sport of Basketball globally. People always compare leagues on every level which is why these tourny’s draw so much money.