Sunday, February 23, 2014
A little bit of History
NBA:
Like most beginnings, the road started off bumpy for the NBA. The division between Basketball Association of America (BAA) and National Basketball Association (NBA) caused many problems in the world of Basketball. The two different associations were constantly battling to beat the other in regards to players, fans, and overall popularity.
Eventually in 1949, the two decided to merge together and create, what we now know as, the National Basketball Association (NBA). After a rough period of transformation, the NBA began to gain popularity in the 1960's.
Today, the NBA has over millions of fans, thirty teams, and is worth up to $634 million.
Euroleague:
Basketball shifted into Europe and was established by FIBA in 1958. It was not until 2000, when Euroleague was formed under a private organizational model.
In 2001, it adopted the Final Four model. Euroleague has gone through many changes since 2000, but now with the sponsorship of Turkish Airlines (2010-2011) it hopes to continue moving forward and gain popularity throughout Europe.
Looking Forward:
Will Euroleague ever be able to compete with the NBA? How will Euroleague ever make basketball a draw in Europe since it is a place of soccer?
By Naamah Stockdale
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nba-is-born
http://www.euroleague.net/euroleague-basketball/news/i/92502/6330
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Naamah,
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I think Euroleague should focus on establishing basketball in Europe first, and then worry about "competing" with the NBA in the future. They have a much different system from the NBA and I think they should use this to their advantage. Since they don't have a strong college base at all, I think they should try and introduce and implement basketball clubs into the lower level schools in Europe to compete with football clubs. If they give children the opportunities to play basketball in schools and in their after school activities, like the sport of football does, then I feel basketball will definitely have a better chance at expanding in Europe. I think they should draw more focus to this and less on attracting players from the US aspiring for the NBA, in order to establish their own grounds in Europe and to try and promote this sport among the rising generation of children in Europe. If I were a part of the Euroleague, I would put a big focus on children and creating clubs to raise European basketball players of their own as we can see happens from the introduction of basketball into the lives of American children at a very young age. I feel that while it may take Euroleague a while to establish its own generation of players, that if done correctly they may in the future have a chance to compete with football- as football's future is currently under much debate due to the financial issues and the corruption. Euroleague has a chance to avoid this corruption and while it may never reach the popularity of football, I think it can still become a strong presence in Europe if advertised and marketed to the correct group of individuals.
-Mary
Euroleague is in a very tough situation. In Europe they are very hindered because football has taken hold and will never give up their spot as the number one sport. Euroleague is the basketball landscape is still number two because of the NBA. I do not think the Euroleague can continue to grow at a level that they would hope to. They will be able to manage as a sustainable business, but they will never surpass football or the NBA.
ReplyDelete-Chris O'Hanlon
Euroleague is doing well in that it is expanding. I agree with Chris in that I do not believe that the Euroleague will ever come close to competing with football in Europe or the NBA globally. I think that they will be able to gain followers and fans, however, just not up to the level they want to be at. Football will never be replaced in Europe and basketball will always continue to be behind.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I don't believe that basketball will ever become the most popular sport in Europe. Soccer will always be the number one sport in Europe but basketball and Euroleague are growing. For Euroleague to grow and become popular it has to try as much as it can to not compete directly with soccer because Europeans will always choose soccer over basketball. An example of this would be that soccer and basketball games are not on at the same time becuase people will go to a bar to watch a soccer game every day over basketball. Euroleague will also never be able to compete with the NBA. Players grow up dreaming of playing in the NBA, not Euroleague. The NBA is known for having the best players in the world and is considered the best basketball league in the world. Euroleague is growing but it will never reach the level of the NBA and soccer.
ReplyDelete-Nick Cevallos
I don't think that basketball will ever be bigger than soccer in Europe. Soccer has been established and popular for so long in Europe and is part of each country's culture. I don't think that it will ever be able to really compete with the NBA but I do think it is doing a great job so far at trying to expand its popularity and market it throughout Europe. A more realistic goal for the Euroleague in my opinion would be to just continue to grow and establish itself as a popular spectator sport in Europe instead of trying to compete with the NBA.
ReplyDeleteBasketball in Europe will never be as important as soccer is but it is definitely growing in popularity. The NBA is actually helping the globalization of basketball especially into the Asian market. In order for Euroleague to gain a larger audience they will have to accept the fact that they will never be as prominent as soccer is in Europe. As basketball continues to grow in popularity Euroleague's prominence should continue to rise and it will be considered the second most important basketball league in the world.
ReplyDelete-Brad Williams
I agree with Brad's comment regarding the importance of the globalization of basketball. Soccer is so important because it is a universal sport (even though we say it is "not popular" in the USA, the vast majority of kids growing up playing soccer at some level). Therefore, I think the NBA's global initiative is paramount to the growth of basketball in Europe. Aside from a select few, the best basketball players in the world are all American. This makes fans feel somewhat disconnected, whereas in Soccer you have superstars hailing from Korea to Chile to Ukraine. However, by trying to tap into a larger talent pool, the NBA is effectively trying to increase the diversity of its supporters, which if successful will definitely result in a gain in popularity.
ReplyDeleteIt has never been easier for NBA and Euroleague to merge than now. Euroleague's rules are becoming more and more like NBA's and traveling advances has made it easy for players and fans to get around. 10 or 15 years ago this could never even be an optionHowever, I believe these two programs will never be able to compete with ear other. NBA has too much talent over of the course of its existence. I also believe that traveling will be way too complex with scheduling.
ReplyDelete-Curtis Businski
While I do agree with most people here, I stray away a bit from saying that soccer will alwaaays be number one. The same thing was said about baseball always being number 1 and how it will forever be "america's sport," but that view has certainly changed. While I don't think that it will happen in the near future, if Euroleague wants to reach the pinnacle of the sporting world in Europe it must do a lot of what Mary mentioned. With a large focus on youth and trying to establish the presence of basketball at a young age, the Euroleague fan base and overall competition in the league will continue to grow. -Drew Rasansky
ReplyDeleteGoing off of what Mary said, I think that it would be difficult for the Euroleague to compete with the NBA anytime in the near future. One of the main reasons for the NBA's popularity in the United States is the American passion for basketball as a sport. If people didn't love it, they probably wouldn't watch it. That is the same with most other sports in the US, including baseball, football and golf. In Europe however, the main focus is futbol. Everything revolves around the sport and kids grow up playing the game. No other sport is given close to the amount of attention, so how can there be any competition? I think that if other sports were more heavily incorporated to European culture this would be a different story, but that is not the case. Basketball has the potential to become more popular in Europe in the future if they start by introducing it to today's younger generations, but I don't think it will ever have the opportunity to surpass futbol. -Katie Williams
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to say whether Europe ever has a chance of seeing basketball the way they see football. It will be very difficult for basketball to ever come close in popularity. And going off of what Katie said, it is hard for Euroleague to compete with the NBA simply because Europe does not have the same passion for it as America does.
ReplyDeleteI do believe it will gain some ground in Europe, but it is definitely limited.
One reason I see it being limited is the players the Euroleague has. Do you think any of the players are as good as NBA players? Also, when american basketball stars go to Euroleague is it always because they are simply not good enough to make it in the NBA?
If Euroleague is always getting the second pickings for basketball stars, it will make it hard to ever make it compete with NBA.
There is no doubt there are about 20 or so Euroleague players that are as good as current NBA players and are making NBA money for their service in Euroleague. Some of these players are American and some are European and most would be fringe level bench players on an NBA roster at best. However, in Euroleague they are able to start and make salaries north of a million Euros. At this point, I think Euroleagues main threat comes from the growing NBA D league. With Mark Cuban and Adam Silver pushing for the D league to have a bigger presence, you could see a lot of fringe level talent from Europe and America flock to the D league. The only thing currently stopping this from happening is the fact that top level D league salaries cannot compete with the highest Euroleague salaries. If this changes, I think the Euroleague could take a major blow? What do you guys think of this? Does the D league pose a major threat or will Euroleague always have its niche?
ReplyDeleteLucas Cohen