‘There’s tremendous opportunity’: NBA sponsorships lead on European expansion 

In this conversation. Brody, who is based in New York, explained the NBA’s strategy to draw in sponsors, how it’s meeting their expectations, and how it can seize the moment in Europe.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

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Bring us up to speed – what’s the current NBA’s footprint in Europe?

The momentum around basketball in Europe is at an all time high right now. Basketball is the second most popular sport in all of Europe, second only behind [soccer].

This year, on [the NBA season] opening night, we had 135 players born outside the United States; that’s roughly a third of our league, [and] about half come from Europe. You’re talking about the biggest stars of the game: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luca Dončić, Nikola Jokić. In his third season, Victor Wembanyama has already led to the highest TV viewership that we’ve ever seen in France, and he was the quickest player ever to surpass 1 billion views on the NBA’s social media channels. 

If you can see that your hometown hero is now a superstar on the biggest stage in the world, that is a massive catalyst for growth within our game. Europe’s time has come on the world stage, and I think that all leads to the incredible momentum that we’re seeing on the continent.

Is that demand enough to support a European extension of the NBA?

The NBA is a global culture phenomenon. You can’t underscore just how important the culture aspect is to the commercial area of the business. You don’t have to look far into music, film, fashion, arts, technology to see an NBA player front and center.

When I’m sitting down with brands… they want to talk about three things. One is where we sit in culture. Two, this unmatched, unparalleled global audience. And three, [that it’s] a young, multicultural, diverse, tech savvy audience. 

I think there’s tremendous opportunity. 

Would this mean importing the NBA’s American business model to Europe?

We have 17 offices around the world. I think we’re unique in the sports landscape in terms of that kind of commitment to having boots on the ground in local markets. In our London office, we have over 100 employees who wake up every single day thinking about the fact that the basketball experience there is different from where it is in the United States. 

[For example] I lead our global partnership with Anheuser Busch. They were the first-ever official global beer partner of the NBA. Michelob Ultra is the brand they activate with on a global basis, but we work with our teams around the world to bring to life different brands such as Budweiser in India or Castle Light in Africa, or Harbin in China. 

What can the NBA offer a European brand that they can’t get from another sports property?

What we hear from them is [that] they see the incredible innovation happening with our sport. If you look at the last several years, we’ve unveiled in-season tournaments and play-in tournaments. Our partners want to be with us on that journey by co-creating with us from the ground up. If you’re a partner of the NBA, often you have an early inside look at what are new innovations, what are new programs and concepts we’re thinking about for the future.

Our partners want to be a part of that. We have an opportunity to do something really special together to enhance the fan experience. [For example] when we announced our 10 year extension with [Swiss watch brand] Tissot, we also announced that as part of that, Tissot will present an NBA game in Europe for the next 10 years. It’s a massive commitment. They’re also our official timekeeper, actually tied to the partnership renewal. We unveiled new shot clocks this season; they’re circular, actually closely reflecting a Tissot watch. They literally control the timing and scoring system that runs our games on a nightly business.

I mentioned earlier my oversight of our partnership with Anheuser Busch. Anheuser Busch became a partner of the NBA in 1998 and for the first 25 years of that partnership, they were focused on working with us in the U.S. That changed in 2023 because they, like many other brands, saw what’s happening in our business around the world.

We’re playing six games in Europe over three years. We’re going to play two regular season games this January in Germany, it’s going to be a huge moment. [In 2027], we’re going to Manchester and Paris; the year after that Paris and Berlin. When we make commitments like that, the brands we work with have an opportunity: they want to get in, with planning early on because of the ability to be a part of something special and unique.

Do you have specific commercial targets going into next year?

The metrics and targets that we have are for internal purposes only. I don’t think I’m able to share anything, but what I would say is we continue to be focused on the continued growth and trajectory of the business, which has been very positive.