RealGM

The NBA has already taken steps towards China in announcing NBA China, well now they have decided on India as well.

Can the NBA become the #1 global sport or will football(soccer) always dominate?

http://lebasketbawl.blogspot.com/2008/0 ... india.html

i can't wait for players with 4 arms.

What a (Please Use More Appropriate Word) thing to say.

soccer isnt that big in india so bball have chance to overcome soccer population wise if they indeed become successful.

Oh India, Chak De!

No sport is really that big in India other than Cricket and Field Hockey, bring in Basketball movements and it wouldn't be that difficult at all for it to become successful.

I really hope it does. I hope someday I can cheer for India's National Basketball team at the Olympics.

Soccer has a pretty good following in India. ESPN makes millions with the English premier league broadcasts and other sports merchandise sales. Also teams like Juve, Milan, Barcelona and Madrid have big fan bases up there.

Heck you can see many cars with Argentina/Brazil/Portugal flags on cars during the FIFA world cup time.

Basketball is another issue though, it has a relatively small following and most fans do not have much knowledge of the game yet. Hope they do get hooked on though, its quite a big market to tap on.

Kobay wrote:i can't wait for players with 4 arms.

oh rly!

Oh shoot yea, soccer has really been growing there, lol.
I remember now, that's all that I got to watch on most sports channels.

I still think, though.. If the NBA can get in there and spark something, it wouldn't take extremely long for Basketball to develop.

Kobay wrote:i can't wait for players with 4 arms.

Kobay wrote:i can't wait for players with 4 arms.

How mature of you...

oh and i doubt anything ever takes India away from cricket and into basketball?

kellex wrote:Can the NBA become the #1 global sport or will football(soccer) always dominate?

Soccer will always dominate, but putting more emphasis on growing basketball appreciation in Asian countries like India is a great move. Mainly due to Yao, the number of Chinese who watch NBA games is phenomenal. All India needs to do now is to develop stars like China is doing.

i know a lot of indians and they dont even care about nba.. crazy basketball countries in asia are china, philippines, korea, japan and taiwan...

East_Coast wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



Soccer will always dominate, but putting more emphasis on growing basketball appreciation in Asian countries like India is a great move. Mainly due to Yao, the number of Chinese who watch NBA games is phenomenal. All India needs to do now is to develop stars like China is doing.

soccer may always dominate South America and Western Europe but I think basketball is going to pass it at some point. Especially if they find some great indian player. Basketball is more popular in China and E. Europe. Africa is soccer-crazy but I think they're getting into basketball too as more courts are built.

They should move to Australia.

Bobbcats wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

soccer may always dominate South America and Western Europe but I think basketball is going to pass it at some point. Especially if they find some great indian player. Basketball is more popular in China and E. Europe. Africa is soccer-crazy but I think they're getting into basketball too as more courts are built.

I hope that bball becomes the most popular global sport in the future, but its going to be tough. Worldwide, young people -- the future fan base for any sport -- are more into soccer because not only do they see more of it in the local media, but its cheaper to play. All you need is an old ball that holds air and an open field.

I say that bball will gain some ground on soccer in developing markets, but will never surpass it globally. Time will tell, I guess.

That's great news. Expansion will only help the NBA get more exposure and more All-Star votes we can grumble about.

Kobay wrote:i can't wait for players with 4 arms.

wow....

India is an extremely poor country. I've been there for a week a few years back. Most people in India are just trying to survive. However there are a few very, very rich people.

I think the population of India is like 500 million people but they win less olympic medals than small country like Bahamas and Jamaica. The last olympic in Athen the won something like 1 medal.

But you never know a giant is waiting to be discover.

Flash3 wrote:That's great news. Expansion will only help the NBA get more exposure and more All-Star votes we can grumble about.

can't wait, more foreigners rigging the all star game

Kobay wrote:i can't wait for players with 4 arms.

omgzz the racist!!!