Basketball: How BBL finals show there’s appetite for Britain’s ‘NBA’
Tickets are sold out and have long been difficult to find but on Sunday the hottest event in British basketball takes place at the O2. The iconic venue is set to host the men’s and women’s finals of the British Basketball League (BBL), where the London Lions will be looking to become the first side to win both titles.
More than 16,500 fans will pack into the Greenwich venue as the sport enjoys a boom in popularity in the UK.
Basketball is among the top five most watched sports globally, alongside the likes of cricket and football.
Basketball is everywhere
It is also played just about everywhere, with hoops installed on the housing estates of England, adjacent to metal football nets.
At the highest level the BBL continues to grow, develop and build upon investment from American private equity firm 777 Partners, who bought 45 per cent of the league for £7m.
777 Partners also has a stake in EuroCup competitors London Lions but there is investment across the field.
“A day doesn’t go by that I don’t get a call from somebody interested either in exploring an investment in an existing club or wanting to put a team in a large city that doesn’t have a team in the UK,” Aaron Radin, BBL chief executive, told City PM
“We’ve put so much of the focus and prioritisation on next year and beyond from an operational content [and] business perspective that the ongoing business of managing this year has been about giving as much input as we could to our broadcast partners and trying to build up an audience across social.
“I am pleasantly pleased that the level of scepticism has been small and the level of buy-in has been strong. In terms of the product on the court, the games are entertaining and I think the quality of play is high.
“When I go to the games and talk to the fans they’re having a high level entertainment experience.”
Both of Sunday’s finals are to be contested by the London Lions and Leicester Riders, with the Lions looking to defend their women’s crown and the Riders their men’s.
NBA enquiries
“We’ve had several NBA guys [enquire], famous footballers here in the UK and investment groups,” said Lenz Balan, vice-president of 777 Partners.
“It’s just really exciting [to see] what the potential will look like. I think some folks are afraid that it was just a London thing.
“[One player] who has played in the Euro League said ‘Playing in the UK is great, I would play in Cheshire. It’s about the familiarity: the language, it’s easier for Americans to culturally adapt here.”
But change is on the horizon for BBL. Reports this week have suggested that the play-offs – currently quarter-finals and semi-finals played over two legs between the top eight sides after the regular season – could become best-of-three series.
Furthermore, in a bid to maximise the commercialisation of the BBL, the All Star Game could return for the first time since 2011.
The BBL chiefs are clearly looking to revolutionise and develop the sport in the United Kingdom, given the number of positive examples across the pond in the United States, where the NBA rules the hoop-shooting world.
You could therefore reasonably assume that the ultimate aim inside the BBL is for a play-off series, much like the sport’s American cousins.
“In terms of next year, there is an enormous focus on content on everything from the production of the game to the manner we produce and distribute content,” Radin added.
BBL ambition
“[And] there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be playing in larger arenas and filling them. There’s clearly sport madness in this country in terms of enthusiasm and excitement about attending live sport.
“Football is a little but different, it is a religion, you’re born into it, right? There’s a level of enthusiasm [for basketball] that I think would support that in terms of a market standpoint.
“My hope is that we own, operate and are partnered on the management of the facilities that we are playing in, and that they’re world class facilities.
“Fans are going to be the best brand ambassadors for our product – you have a great experience at a game and you tell your friends about it or post it on social media.”
In the world of sports business, when push comes to shove, the amount of eyes watching on is important to any investor. And BBL has seen itself set records for attendances in the play-off finals – 16,500 this year – but also in the trophy finals, a separate competition, where 6,000 tuned up in Glasgow.
“We view this as a growth equity investment,” Balan said. “We understood that when we came into it, it’s going to require far more than the £7m that we have invested.
“We’re fortunate in that we have a group of clubs that are dedicated to the sport and want to see it grow.
“We haven’t gotten our cash back yet but we didn’t plan to. We realise this is a long-term equity story. We’ve made plenty of mistakes and learnings.
“There’s momentum, significant momentum, and basketball [fans and onlookers] are taking notice.”