NBA and Paris are an extraordinary combination

It’s no longer news: for the third consecutive year, the NBA has paraded – a not random term, given the (anything but casual) coincidence with Fashion Week – at the Accor Arena in Paris. Until the pandemic, or more precisely, until Brexit, London was the European outpost with the headquarters at the O2 Arena. Now, the baton has firmly passed to the French capital and the Bercy arena. Last week’s two games between the San Antonio Spurs and the Indiana Pacers were the 14th and 15th ever for the American league on French soil, and the 96th and 97th in Europe, about forty years since the first ocean crossing. This time, however, Adam Silver and his team raised the bar even higher, making everything even bigger than past editions.

First of all, with two games instead of one (a first ever), with a five-day event packed with appointments both on and off the court, transforming the NBA Paris Game into the NBA Paris Week. With a special guest, or rather, a host who made the event exceptional: the local idol Victor Wembanyama, of course. The entire week, not-so-subtly, revolved around the French star of the Spurs, and it couldn’t have been otherwise. Born in Paris, number one pick in the 2023 Draft – and without mincing words, the best thing to ever happen to French basketball – Wemby once again confirmed the magnetic attraction he exerts on his fellow countrymen.

To be fair, the San Antonio number one is an irresistible magnet for the entire NBA audience. Indiscriminately, or almost: from game nerds to more casual fans, from enthusiasts to professionals, from the States to Europe – but in France, for obvious reasons, it’s a whole different story. A bit like Luka Doncic and Slovenia, or Dirk Nowitzki and Germany in the past. Adam Silver himself reminded us of this at last Thursday’s opening press conference: “Wembanyama has gained incredible popularity, he is currently third in terms of social media engagement in the NBA, and his game jersey is the fifth best-selling overall”. Numbers that make noise for someone his age (21, just turned), but are just the tip of a gigantic iceberg.

The Wemby Factor

Two years ago, with foresight and a bit of courage, the league started an unprecedented partnership with broadcasters, federations, and local clubs to broadcast Wembanyama and his Metropolitans 92 on NBA League Pass. A never-before-tried way to introduce the world to the generational talent arriving in just a few months. Now, the dynamic has almost reversed: it’s the player bringing the NBA to French screens, promoting the game, attracting new audience segments; crossing the ocean to open two courts in Le Chesnay, where he was born and raised; and even introducing Chris Paul and his teammates to the Parisian fashion shows. Acting as a bridge between two sporting cultures, he has also proven to be a commercial game changer, as well as on the court.

It’s also, if not especially thanks to him, that NBA League Pass subscriptions have increased by 36% in the last twelve months, and app users by 38%. His mere presence at the Parc des Princes for the PSG-Manchester City match last Wednesday, along with a couple skills – yes, even with a football ball – allowed the NBA to grow its popularity among football fans as well. Bingo, especially if the stated goal – as confirmed by the man himself – was to prove that the Spurs should play a game in Paris every year.

The response from the public has never been lacking at the Global Games, in Paris as elsewhere. And last week’s games were no exception: tickets for the two matches, over thirty thousand in total, sold out in just a few hours after the sale opened; and the stands of the Accor Arena were filled with fans and enthusiasts from 53 different countries, a record for any NBA event.

Of course, the presence of the San Antonio Spurs, renamed for the occasion as Les Spurs, was a solid guarantee. This Texas franchise has historically had an international DNA, highly appreciated on this side of the ocean, and recently leveraged two key players like Boris Diaw and especially Tony Parker to make their mark in France. And that was before the emergence of the new prodigy, let alone after his arrival. On the other hand, Wemby or not, Paris and the French market have long represented a solid certainty for the NBA, recently strengthened by the Olympic Games, where the Bleus and Team USA faced off for the gold medal.

Paris is Worth the (Long) Journey

As simple as it may seem today, it’s important to keep in mind the economic and logistical effort that underpins the NBA’s transatlantic travels. The league’s investment to export its product, with all the people and infrastructure involved, five thousand kilometers from home, cannot be underestimated; especially with the addition of a second game, and the rich schedule set up simultaneously in the city (the sparkling NBA House at Le Carreau du Temple, the NBA Jam event in the middle of the Accor Arena, Jr. NBA events, clinics for young players and coaches). And let’s not overlook the tricky scheduling of all this within the regular season calendar, a marathon of 82 games compressed into six months, where finding space is a challenge.

It goes without saying that the return expected by the NBA must be significant. Both immediately, with the numbers already mentioned that should remove any doubt, and in the medium-to-long term, following the ever-present goal: to expand the global following of a league that is seen, marketed, and is the number one basketball league in the world; and that for some time has been working to emancipate itself from a local context that is almost saturated, with competitors like the NFL, MLB, and NHL. The Paris Games thus represent a crucial point of contact with the French market, which in turn is a key part of the NBA’s business.

France is indeed the number one European market for NBA-branded merchandise sales. And in the last five years, even before Wembanyama, the audience for American basketball on TV has grown by 67% compared to the levels recorded between 2015 and 2019. A decisive driving force, clearly, is represented by the national players: currently, fourteen of them are in the league, and if we look at the past eighteen seasons, we discover that there have been more NBA players from France than from any other country outside North America.

Italy and the Global Games

In light of all this, you might wonder if the show is destined to land in Italy in the coming years, and what we might be missing in comparison to contexts like the French one. If not out of envy, then out of curiosity. Well, the only countries where regular season games have been played, in addition to the two already mentioned on the Channel, are Mexico (a fixture for about ten years) and Japan (the last time was in 2003). Including preseason games (not exhibitions), several other countries are added, including Italy, which hosted its first-ever game in Milan in 1984, and another one in Rome in 2007. Since then, nothing.

The first issue to resolve when trying to predict the future of this situation concerns the number of annual trips the NBA is willing and able to make. In line with technological advancements – needless to say, reducing the travel time would make a big difference – and a series of factors related to the context: potential changes to the calendar and structure of the season (could we ever find a compromise for a shortened regular season?), as well as possible new formats and competitions on the USA-Europe axis (especially in recent months).

Excluding an imminent increase in European trips, an NBA Milan Game (if it were to happen, the Lombard capital would be the obvious choice for logistical and commercial reasons) currently seems unlikely. The Italian ecosystem is indeed an interesting resource for the NBA, but not at the level of our neighbors across the channel. Numbers speak first: with 9.5 million fans and 7 million followers on the league’s official social accounts, Italy is the third largest European country in terms of fanbase size and engagement, behind France and Turkey. In addition, there’s the absence of a reference – and for the NBA, an asset – like Wembanyama, as well as a modern venue with the capacity and standards of the Accor Arena.

In short, surpassing Paris, which is now the hereditary European capital of NBA basketball, is quite unrealistic. For those eagerly awaiting the opportunity, there are two options: wait patiently or hope that the NBA launches new global projects from which we could also benefit. Otherwise, more simply, it’s better to start hunting for a ticket to the NBA Paris Games 2026, which is just awaiting official confirmation.