If you are an avid sports fan like myself, you might have heard of the Euroleague. However, this is not the case for everyone. You might be wondering, how does Euroleague influence the NBA?, or can Euroleague help the NBA?, better yet, can the Euroleague and the NBA help each other? The answer, my friends, is yes.
As any great marketeer knows, globalization and brand advertising are vital keys to success. Today, we are going to look at how the Euroleague and the NBA use these tools to become benefactors of one another. Less than a week ago, the former Los Angeles Laker, Lamar Odom, announced he will join the Euroleague Club: Laboral Kuxta. This Spain club will benefit greatly from adding the 34 year old NBA veteran to its roster. Mainly, it creates exposure to the club, as Odom is a big named player who has been teammates with the likes of Kobe Bryant. People associate him to the Los Angeles Lakers, a professional team that is known around the globe. This signing, will in turn give the club a probable increase in ticket sales, merchandise revenue, etc. The president of the club, Josean Querejeta was quoted saying this about the signing: "We're very happy to have signed such an important player who has had a long a fruitful career in the NBA." Odom is not the first NBA player to come play for Laboral Kuxta. Tiago Splitter, Goran Dragic, Luisa Scola, and Jose Calderon have all graced the club with their presence before finding a home in the NBA. The Euroleague will continue to serve as the predominant source of professional basketball internationally, and will continue to gain from NBA influence.
Source: http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/10473042/lamar-odom-make-comeback-spain
Written By: Alex Sharrin
Alex, do you think that many Euroleague fans know about Lamar Odoms off the court issues? A couple months ago his wife filed force divorce saying he was an alcoholic and a drug addict. He was also seen recently out partying with his teammates after only being able to stay on the court for 6 minutes, because of stamina issues. Do you think this could possible portray a bad image for Laboral Kuxta, if the people know about his passed? and if his off the court issues continue? - Nick Rivera
ReplyDeleteNick, I do agree that Lamar's reputation might portray a bad image for Laboral Kuxta, but as they say - there's no such thing as bad publicity. With everything TMZ related in Lamar's life, people like to hear about what's going on with him. Maybe with the move to Spain, the Lamar followers will get a new, inside look into the Euro League. -Drew Rasansky
ReplyDeleteI agree with this a lot. There is no such thing as bad publicity. I say this especially for athletes because even if they are on their worst behaviors, they are always publicized on TV, newspapers, and online sites. We can take Alex Rodriguez for example. He was accused countless of times for steroids back in 2003 and with the whole steroid bust that happened recently he was found guilty and was suspended by the MLB. However, he still holds a huge fan base and although he was proven guilty and because of his past with steroids, people still supported him, bought merchandise and tickets to the games and is one of the most popular current players in baseball, if he isnt THE one. My point with this is, that despite the drama going on in his life, I still believe Lamar Odoms' decision to play for Laboral Kuxta will definetely increase the revenue coming into the team and create an entire new fan base because he is popular in the Entertainment world due to TMZ and is affiliated with one of the most popular NBA teams. This will turn to be a good marketing strategy I think. -Amy
DeleteI agree with the post in that Lamar Odom will no doubt increase exposure to the club Laboral Kuxta. He does have off the court issues, but that will not stop people from buying his jersey or coming to the games in order to see a former NBA championship winning player. He is an average player at best currently, but from a marketing standpoint this was a great accusation because their team is now one of the most televised teams.
ReplyDelete-Chris O'Hanlon
Do you agree that the publicity he brings with him from the states is necessarily a good thing for this team? I feel like he is now more infamous and not necessarily a good addition to a team in his condition. I agree that it will probably call for more attention to the team as a whole, but only in terms of seeing him fail or succeed. On what terms do you think that this team signed him? Do you think they were well aware of what they were getting themselves into?
ReplyDelete--Julia Pfeifer
I remember hearing that Euroleague was much more team centered than focused on individual players. Because of this Lamar's arrival could potentially not go over well with everyone in the locker room because of his very public image. With that being said, I honestly think Kuxta signed him both for his basketball abilities and his his ability to raise revenue for the team through television deals and tickets. While his last two seasons in the NBA were not the greatest, it was only two years ago he was averaging over 14 points a game in the NBA. Do you think the potential gain in revenue and on court talent from outweighs the possible down side of signing a player with that many recent troubles and public controversies?
ReplyDeleteI think that by adding any type of big name player such as Lamar Odom, it will benefit a lesser known team. Even if people do not know Odom as a basketball player, there is a chance they would know him due to his marriage to Khloe Kardashian. He is a public figure and this will definitely get the Laboral Kuxta name out in the open and get people talking, which is ultimately a marketing goal.
ReplyDeleteI think the acquisition of Lamar Odom is a good and a bad thing for Laboral Kuxta and Euroleague. I agree that it is definitely a good boost in media coverage signing a famous NBA veteran. Like you pointed out, the LA Lakers are a popular franchise worldwide so people will automatically be drawn to him. On the other hand though, I have to agree with Nick. Recently, he has been a lot of bad news mostly with drugs. Publicity is good for the club and Euroleague but this could bring about negative publicity in the future if he continues to cause problems off the court. And I believe it's a matter of time before he messes up again.
ReplyDelete-Nick Cevallos
-Nick Cevallos
I think Lucas made a great point that the Euroleague is more team oriented and not as individually focused like the NBA. This may make an interesting transition for Lamar Odom to not try to be the star player of the team and have to be playing for the team and not himself. Although this is great for marketing purposes to have a veteran NBA player, like Alex said, the idea that he may be just a recycled player after his negative publicity may not make him the best player to represent the NBA and a new face in the Euroleague. Do you think his negative media headlines in the United States will help create more popularity of the Euroleague?
ReplyDelete-Theresa Neri
Regardless of Odum's current basketball abilities, signing such a high profile player is great for Kuxta from a marketing standpoint. Not only will the signing create a buzz around Euroleauge, but it will also capture a few NBA fans (those who are Lakers fans, Odum fans, NBA fans in general, etc.) who might turn their attention to Euroleague for a moment just to follow Odum's progress. Even if the increased interest in the Euroleague generated from the Odum signing is short-lived, it is still making headlines and giving the league more exposure than the many other signings that occur with players that only some Europeans have heard of. If Odum clears up is off-the-court issues and gets into shape, I think he will be one of the best players in Euroleague, which will continue to benefit the league as other teams attempt to make similar signings of former NBA players.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Athena- by adding Odum to a team in the Euroleague, there will be a lot of attention and publicity geared towards this smaller team. It is a great opportunity for Laboral Kuxta and could help them gain further attention in recruiting for the future. Since Odum decided to sign with this smaller team, I think that this could start a trend with other more famous US basketball stars looking at joining these European basketball teams.
ReplyDelete-Sullivan Short
I absolutely agree that signing Lamar Odom to Laboral Kuxta Euroleague Cub will increase American Euroleague fans. Loyal fans of Lamar will start watching his games in the Euroleague and may even take a trip to see a game. Euroleague has initiated many strategies to try to increase exposure in United States to compete with NBA. This strategy was very smart by trying to attract West Coast followers. They are taking a veteran NBA player with a lot of followers and hopefully transitioning these followers to the Euroleague.
ReplyDelete-Curtis Businski
This move mirrors the trend of many older European soccer players moving to the MLS towards the latter stages of their careers - notably Beckham to the LA Galaxy and Henry to the NY Redbulls. As a result, many in the soccer community jokingly dubbed the MLS as a 'retirement league'. However, one cannot argue the profound impact these stars have had on the league's recent growth over the past few years. Henry and Beckham have repeatedly attested to the high level of competition and continuously express their enjoyment in playing in the US. If the Euroleague is smart, they could capitalize on this opportunity and use Odom as a spokesperson to give the league some credibility. By him endorsing Euroleague, many other former or current NBA starts would be far more inclined to make the same switch.
ReplyDeleteKind of going off of what Evan is saying-- Do you guys think bringing in former NBA players is away to attract American fans or Europeans fan?
ReplyDelete-Drew Rasansky