Wemby wants more "Euro" atmosphere from fans in NBA games.

[CharityStripe34]

That type of atmosphere will never happen in the States. There's just a sizeable cultural difference. Nothing wrong with that.

To be fair, in that video you're seeing fairly more extreme examples. I can think of a game that had huge attendance that was incredibly loud without veering toward hooliganism. It was the WC qualifying game between Greece and Serbia in Belgrade in 2022 (right before Eurobasket). Giannis vs. Jokic at their peaks and the game went to overtime. An instant classic of a game. Belgrade is a basketball hotbed as both Serbs and Greeks love it.

[bkkrh]

I think it's a stamina issue lol 41 regular season games, a couple preseason games, then the post season, that's tough lol vs like what 19 home games for the Euroleague? Plus arena size plays a part, 40% of the arenas in Euroleague have a capacity of 10,000 or less people.

It's not even comparable.

There are also domestic league and cup games. Also I doubt there are a lot of NBA fans that can afford to go to all 41 regular season games, while it is a very common thing for European Football, Basketball and Ice Hockey fans to have season tickets, since they are in comparsion pretty affordable for most teams.

[NoStatsGuy]

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The NBA might have better players on the court but the games will NEVER have the atmosphere some of these fanatic euro clubs have.

Colleges here have that atmosphere.

with all due respect, i have never seen bengalos fired at a college game

These european ultras are "going to war". College and NBA are family events. completely different mindset and intentions. but i have to agree, these are extreme examples. the regular friday game in the best german league is definitley more like tuesday night in the charlotte arena.

to stay on topic tho, i like that the spurs at least attempt to bring some home sweet home feeling for wemby. although i doubt its gonna happen, mainly becasue the NBA is heavily marketed as going to family events, as i mentioned. in Europe the competition is much more important, i have a feeling its not purely entertainment based marketing, much less changing rules for the viewing pleasure, etc.

[Doctor MJ]

If they are willing to drop the ticket prices by about 80%, I'm sure this has a chance, LOL.

This is the clear issue.

A) Passionate fans
B) Max ticket price

Choose one.


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[Calvin Klein]

Good luck with that, Wemby

[Calvin Klein]

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The NBA might have better players on the court but the games will NEVER have the atmosphere some of these fanatic euro clubs have.

Colleges here have that atmosphere.

No, they don't

[Calvin Klein]

Victor Wembanyama expressed his desire to the Spurs for more "intense" support from Fans-like in Europe...

Spurs will try it out...
(No,literally,they will hold tryouts for fans to prove they have what it takes...-That's not how this works,but okay,if anything it's gonna create fun times and memes before it fails miserably... )

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The fact that they have to hold "try outs"

Let it go. If you want to have an atmosphere like Europe, play in Europe. It's about culture. It will only be a manufactured crowd in the NBA and it will be embarrassing.

Spurs crowd is pretty decent by NBA standards so Wemby should consider himself lucky

[TimDunkin]

If they are willing to drop the ticket prices by about 80%, I'm sure this has a chance, LOL.

This is the clear issue.

A) Passionate fans
B) Max ticket price

Choose one.


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I don't know what section they're putting them in, but they've announced the group will get $999 season tickets, free parking, and a discount at the pro shop. If it's anywhere but the nosebleeds, then that is a good deal.

[G R E Y]

It doesn't have to be just like Euro footy fandom just because the idea came from it.

This can take on a unique form of its own, rooted in the culture it's coming from.

Let's see how it works and grows first, geez. Huge young star engaging with fans about a new idea is exactly what you'd want. Wemby is not selling anything here. Maybe, just maybe, it takes on a unique life of its own and other fan bases pick up on it and something fun and positive grows from it in an arena experience you can't get by watching at home or wherever, the horror

[G R E Y]

p.s. as long as this doesn't involve vuvuzelas, I'm game. Trumpets, sure. Chants and songs, bring it and let's have a go. Ear piercing buzz that shakes every cell in your body and resonates for days? Not so much. Or at all.

[NoStatsGuy]

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Yes the fans were loud. But some negatives

1. Fans throwing toilet paper on the court is lame, not something to be applauded (especially at tip off - wtf )
2. Did I see fire in the crowd? Good luck
3. The cleanup between timeouts/intermissions would be hell


With that said, I love the passion and the flags in the crowd. It should be a good addition with some tweaks and enhanced security.

thats the quintessential difference in fan culture. the fans, especially the extreme ones from the video, they dont care about safety as much, they dont care about delay of game. they are "going to war". leave them wife and kids at home, and hopefully return in one piece

as many have said, these are extreme examples and im aware of that. but i think its funny and i always enjoy reading those threads. because one is not better than the other, its just very different and quite interesting.

[Calvin Klein]

The first person to get a spot should be that screaming lady that you can always hear at Spurs games.

[Zukkoyaki]

He wants fans yelling slurs?

[Doctor MJ]

p.s. as long as this doesn't involve vuvuzelas, I'm game. Trumpets, sure. Chants and songs, bring it and let's have a go. Ear piercing buzz that shakes every cell in your body and resonates for days? Not so much. Or at all.

ftr, I'm perpetually jealous of soccer fans and their singing. I'd love to see these these things in American basketball.

The weird thing is that a) American pro soccer has plenty of this, and b) so does college basketball, yet it's largely absent from traditional American pro sports with the exception of the 7th inning stretch in baseball.

[SNPA]

That's true (both posts quoted). The other part is that many of the top European clubs (Real Madrid, Barcelona, Panathinaikos, Olympiakos, Fenerbahce, Bayern, Belgrad clubs, ...) are not pure basketball clubs, but first and foremost football/soccer clubs. The most fanatic fans of the football team support the other teams in the club as well (like a volleyball match between Olympiakos and Panathinaikos is high security zone), so they bring they traditional European football atmosphere to basketball as well.

It just doesn't work that way (in both directions). You can't just say American basketball arenas should be as loud/fanatic as European arenas (Wemby) and on the other hand you can't just get Liverpool or Manchester fans to a basketball arena just because Adam Silver sees money in it.

Very different cultures, very different traditions. It's not like one is good and one is bad, it's just different.

I'll never get used to calling a professional team a "club". Just another difference. Anytime i hear that I'm picturing children or drunk 50 year old men embarrassing themselves be club members.

But yeah...the sports culture is so vastly different, it's wild.

Another difference where it's the other way around is the huge significance of high school and college sports in the US. There's nothing comparable in Europe. When I first read that the biggest American stadiums are college football stadiums I thought it was a joke. But huge respect for that culture.

Professional sports in Europe is probably more comparable to college sports in the US when it comes to fan base.

This is the answer. Compare it to college atmospheres. Very similar. In the pros in the US it’s a more business and family atmosphere.

And lol at the video starting by showing GS, that’s the most corporate crowd in the league. Show a Kings regular season game. There are also more high energy vibes across the league come playoffs.

[Biff]

When Victor sees the postseason he'll see a more lively crowd. The playoff game atmosphere is VERY different from the regular season. If the game is close, I leave playoff games hoarse. That's never happened at a regular season game.

[CIN-C-STAR]

It sounds like fun until the whole section gets kicked out for chanting "you suck" by some soft NBA star

[playoffs]

Imagine cheering emphatically while your team is deliberately losing games.

Exactly, this is one of the main reasons it could never happen here. In Europe, and most likely the entire rest of the world, there is no context in which fans of a team hope their team loses a game, let alone as many games as possible in the season. They can be fanatics because there is only one goal - winning. In every game, every competition, and every context. It's not going to work here when the most dedicated fans are out there in forums chastising the GM for not losing enough games.

[G R E Y]

If they are willing to drop the ticket prices by about 80%, I'm sure this has a chance, LOL.

This is the clear issue.

A) Passionate fans
B) Max ticket price

Choose one.


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Agree about ticket pricing in general, though Wemby's idea has to do with a specific section in the arena, I think behind the basket of opponents bench, will have maybe a couple of hundred fans, and there will be auditions soon to be part of the project. We'll see where it goes. If auditions are held, I assume there's some pricing incentive as a form of compensation?

[G R E Y]

It sounds like fun until the whole section gets kicked out for chanting "you suck" by some soft NBA star

The aim will be a more positive spin, although whatever the larger crowd ends up chanting at a perceived villain takes on a life of its own.