American investment could make 'sleeping giant' Britain a hoops heavyweight

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LONDON : British basketball is a 'sleeping giant' with potential to become the biggest market outside of the NBA, according to the vice president of an American investment company pumping seven million pounds ($9.22 million) into the sport.After decades of false dawns, under-investment and untapped potent

LONDON : British basketball is a"sleeping giant" with potential to become the biggest market outside of the NBA, according to the vice president of an American investment company pumping seven million pounds into the sport.

"We generally think the commerciality of basketball outside of the NBA hasn't caught up internationally. And so we think there's a massive opportunity," Lenz Balan, Vice President of 777, told Reuters this week. While there is a huge following for NBA in the UK and the cheap-to-play sport is acknowledged as a catalyst for good amongst disadvantaged populations, the 10-franchise British Basketball League receives little exposure.

"On the court it's a compelling product and then I think the core of what we're going to be doing over the next couple of years is growing the digital audience. While games are shown live by British broadcaster Sky Sports, the league currently has no title sponsor and cities such as Liverpool, Birmingham and Nottingham are not involved.'SILVER BULLET'

"This is the first time we've done that. First time we've done it with private equity. I think it will be successful because we're going at it the right way, rather than just chucking money into the clubs and keeping our fingers crossed."

 

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