Did NBA in London prove to brands European basketball is viable?
During one of the timeouts at the London NBA match between Orlando Magic and the Memphis Grizzlies, two fans played a game of tic-tac-toe. Only instead of noughts and crosses, the playing pieces were two basketball-themed Revolut cards.
Onlookers shouldn’t have been surprised; sponsors rarely get the chance to show off to a London audience at an NBA match so have to take full advantage – the game at the O2 was the first in the capital for seven years.
The in-season fixture was presented by watch brand Tissot, and supported by the likes of Revolut, Budweiser, Experience Abu Dhabi, Nike and Emirates. Each had their activation space, each spent hours vying for business from passers-by.
“We partner with global leaders like the NBA who share our challenger mindset to amplify our identity as a high performance lifestyle brand,” London-born fintech juggernaut Revolut’s head of growth, Deborah Wajsbrot, tells Morning Wire.
”Our partnership with the NBA is helping us to transition from a functional utility to an entertainment brand.”
But the NBA is getting too big to simply exist in the American market, with plans for a European league now well underway.
US league commissioner Adam Silver admits that the planned 2027 launch is “ambitious” but the target. It would present potential sponsors with an entry point likely to be more affordable than across the pond, and generate exposure across culturally very different European markets.
That message was presented to prospective sponsors on Monday when they gathered in central London after the NBA match to hear about the project.
The potential interest from a Europe-wide fanbase is certainly there and it is understood that a number of sponsors are watching from a distance on the lookout for potential opportunities an NBA Europe could provide.
NBA consensus
Brands want growth from their sponsorships, but depth in the market too – it’s why the battle over alcohol sponsorship of the 2020 Fifa World Cup in Qatar caused such debate.
There is a consensus that the NBA has proven it has got what it takes to replicate fellow US sport giant NFL in taking games abroad, as it is doing now, but an entirely new league is an entirely different beast despite early successes with NBA Africa.
Revolut wouldn’t be drawn on whether it would be part of NBA Europe, despite a successful activation at the London match, but said: ”By actively expanding our sponsorships geographically, through sports, music and travel, we ensure that Revolut empowers experiences for our customers where they are most impassioned.
“Revolut’s partnerships are guided by three strict principles: trust, integration and narrative. This ensures we create value, not just noise.”
The NBA London game – won by an impressive Grizzlies outfit who had lost to Magic in Berlin three days earlier – was an exciting spectacle plastered in branding.
From Balenciaga to PS5, AWS to 2K26; the event was an advertiser’s dream. And a sell-out, 18,000-strong crowd would have done nothing to deter anyone thinking about cashing on what feels like a tidal wave of basketball interest hurtling towards the UK and Europe.