A North American pro sports league first: NBA to play preseason games in Mumbai, India

[Cobra Arbok]

A North American pro sports league first: NBA to play preseason games in Mumbai, India
Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY Published 4:35 a.m. ET Dec. 20, 2018 | Updated 9:32 p.m. ET Dec. 21, 2018
The NBA will become the first North American pro sports league to hold a game in India when the Kings and Pacers travel there in 2019 for a preseason game. USA TODAY

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Ever since Vivek Ranadive bought the Sacramento Kings in 2013, he has wanted to play a game in India where he was born.

Ranadive’s wish will come true.

The Kings will play the Indiana Pacers in two preseason games on Oct. 4-5 at NSCI Dome in Mumbai, marking the first time a North American pro sports league will play games in India.

“As an Indian-American, it is an honor to help bring this historic moment to the country where I was raised,” Ranadive said in a statement.

NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum traveled to Mumbai to make the announcement on Thursday.

“Our inaugural NBA India Games will help further untap the enormous basketball potential in a country with a thriving sports culture and a growing, young and engaged population,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement.

The NBA prizes its growth in India. The population and growing middle class has generated grassroots and business opportunities for the league.

The league opened an office in Mumbai in 2011 and the NBA Academy India in 2017 for elite youth prospects. More than 350 NBA games are televised on multiple channels in India, including 78 with Hindi commentary.

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The Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA program has reached more than 10 million kids and trained more than 10,000 instructors since 2013, according to the NBA.

These preseason games are particularly poignant to Ranadive. He is the first Indian majority owner of an NBA team, traveled to India with Silver in 2014 and hosts an annual Bollywood Night in Sacramento. In 2017, the Kings streamed a regular-season game live on Facebook available only to users in India and 20-plus Kings game a season are televised on India’s SONY Six.

“The sport is experiencing tremendous growth in India and we are excited about continuing to expand the NBA’s reach to fans across the globe,” he said. “The world wants to watch basketball, and India is a fast-growing new frontier."

@Nilgiri @OsmanAli98 @KAL-EL @GHALIB @jamahir @Śakra @Dubious @VCheng @Novice09 @Theparadox @waz @Irfan Baloch @Tshering22

 

[KAL-EL]

Interesting.. Didn't think India in general was interested in American basketball.

 

[Cobra Arbok]

Interesting.. Didn't think India in general was interested an American basketball

It is becoming more popular. The last time I was in Mumbai, I saw many schools, rec centers, and Housing compounds that had basketball courts.

 

[KAL-EL]

From what I understand, the NBA is really developing International markets very well.

I'm much more of an American football fan, but I can appreciate what the NBA is doing.

 

[Nilgiri]

Interesting.. Didn't think India in general was interested in American basketball.

Two of my cousins (brothers) were super into basketball as teenagers...that too quite some time back (late 90s, early 2000s when I would visit India for summer vacation as a teen myself etc...I'd play them and their friends at the school basketball court...there was quite an extensive scene of play back then already).

In fact they would get into heated arguments about who was better at their prime....Jordan or Iverson (LeBron of course back then was nowhere on the scene yet). Their favourite movie of the era was space jam etc.... Only later did I learn that even my uncle (their father, my dad's older brother) was pretty into basketball himself when he was their age lol....so there is definitely underlying interest in Basketball in lot of places. It just needs more exposure and lot more training/selection and better leagues over time hopefully.

 

[KAL-EL]

I'm from Philadelphia and grew up, and still am a big Sixers fan.

Allen Iverson was a flat-out superstar, but Michael Jordan in his prime I have to admit (if I'm being unbiased) was just on a totally different plane of existence from just about any other NBA player.

 

[waz]

From what I understand, the NBA is really developing International markets very well.

I'm much more of an American football fan, but I can appreciate what the NBA is doing.

Yep the NFL for me, nothing encompasses the American dream like American football. I remember growing up in the 80's watching the snow covered stadiums to the sunshine lit grass of the warm states where teams such as the New Orleans Saints played.
Just magical.
I support the indianapolis colts by the way, as that's where my father was given an opportunity to live for the rest of his life, citizenship and all, until my grandpa said "son I love it here" and that was that. It would have been my home.

 

[KAL-EL]

Yep the NFL for me, nothing encompasses the American dream like American football. I remember growing up in the 80's watching the snow covered stadiums to the sunshine lit grass of the warm states such where teams such as the New Orleans Saints played.
Just magical.
I support the indianapolis colts by the way, as that's where my father was given an opportunity to live for the rest of his life, citizenship and all, until my grandpa said "son I love it here" and that was that. It would have been my home.

It's funny you mentioned the Indianapolis Colts, because I'm currently watching watching the playoff game between them and the Kansas City Chiefs.

My team the Philadelphia Eagles, plays tomorrow against the Saints. They are big underdogs (as they should be) but anything can happen on any given day.


I'm a huge NFL fan. I also root for individual players on other teams.

 

[waz]

It's funny you mentioned the Indianapolis Colts, because I'm currently watching watching the playoff game between them and the Kansas City Chiefs.

My team the Philadelphia Eagles, plays tomorrow against the Saints. They are big underdogs (as they should be) but anything can happen on any given day.


I'm a huge NFL fan. I also root for individual players on other teams.

Ha what a coincidence.

 

[Nilgiri]

I'm from Philadelphia and grew up, and still am a big Sixers fan.

Allen Iverson was a flat-out superstar, but Michael Jordan in his prime I have to admit (if I'm being unbiased) was just on a totally different plane of existence from just about any other NBA player.

Yes I was glad to be able to watch Jordan at his prime on NBA games on TV as a young lad. This was before such programming reached my cousins back home in India. By the time they got more american sports/NBA reaching their neck of the woods more easily....jordan was in his washington wizards get up etc....not quite the same. But hey they had Iverson at least during that era. Sports wise watching for me back then I watched lot more European soccer and formula 1 mostly.

 

[KAL-EL]

Ha what a coincidence.

A coincidence indeed! Unfortunately your Indianapolis Colts lost.

I am now watching the second game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Los Angeles Rams.

 

[Nilgiri]

nothing encompasses the American dream like American football.

I used to think the same too....till I watched this movie, particularly this scene:

And they'll walk out to the bleachers, and sit in shirt-sleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game, and it'll be as if they'd dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick, they'll have to brush them away from their faces.

The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It's been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time.

This field, this game -- it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be again.

Ohhhhhhhh, people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come.

I mean can you really disagree with the mighty Vader-Mufasa himself?

@Joe Shearer @Retired Troll @Avicenna @VCheng @Hamartia Antidote @LeGenD @Desert Fox @Signalian @RabzonKhan @Cobra Arbok @OsmanAli98

 

[Maler]

I did enjoyed on Indian TV, in mid & late 90's, the rivalry between Chicago Bulls & Utah Jazz! Michael Jordan vs Carl Malone!

 

[KAL-EL]

In the United States, American football has far surpassed baseball in scope and popularity

 

[Nilgiri]

In the United States, American football has far surpassed baseball in scope and popularity

Yes as the overall aesthetic preference changes in society....so does its preference in most matters.