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Updated: February 14, 5:29 PM ET Europe, here we come: Stern looks overseas Associated Press |
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PHILADELPHIA -- The NBA is looking anew at international expansion and could have more than one franchise based overseas by the end of the decade, commissioner David Stern said Saturday.
"It wouldn't surprise me that at the end of the decade there would be a very strong NBA international presence on the ground," Stern said at his annual All-Star weekend news conference. "I've changed my thinking."
Stern said the league was examining a number of overseas scenarios, from operating a league in a different continent to placing at least two teams outside of the United States and Canada. He said arena construction plans in European cities have made the idea more viable.
Stern also ruled out domestic expansion in much the same language that he used in past years to deflect speculation on international expansion.
The NBA expanded internationally in 1995 by placing franchises in Toronto and Vancouver, and the general consensus back then was that a move into Mexico City would be the next step.
But with the failure of the Grizzlies in Vancouver and the changing economic conditions in Mexico, Stern in recent years had been consistent in stating that expansion into other countries would probably not work for a variety of reasons.
Now, he has changed his outlook.
"Realistically, the places we could place NBA teams would be Mexico and Europe from a travel perspective. The places where we would consider NBA-sponsored leagues would be anyplace, including Asia, Latin America, Africa and Europe," Stern said. "The timetable is give us 3-4 years to come up with the right plan."
On other matters:
The idea of expanding overseas was Stern's big bombshell.
"We've got to come up with a definitive plan, now that our TV arrangements are set, for a more expansive NBA approach outside the United States, and we think that can take three possible routes: One would be us becoming affiliated with an existing league, one would be us starting an NBA-sponsored league outside the United States, and the final one would be the placing of NBA franchises outside the United States.
"It's not anything that I ever thought I'd be saying in a public forum, but my sense now is that by the end of this new television arrangement, which is six years for now, there will be a firm set of plans for NBA expansion outside the United States," Stern said.
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