With a month into the 2023-24 season, The NBA is looking to provide new experiences for their global fan base. One season ago, The NBA had 22.2 million total fans in attendance -- a new record. Under NBA Commissioner Adam Silver's stewardship, Globalization has been the league's top priority among the advancement of new media and expansion franchises. One can argue that the product of the NBA is what continues to grow their $10 Billion dollar business exponentially in emerging markets outside of U.S borders. With the iteration of the in-season tournament and regulations around player participation, we’ll begin to witness a culture shift across the league for years to come.

Globalization of the NBA is a top priority for Commissioner Adam Silver

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver continues to expand the league's brand reach internationally connecting their global audience at scale. Over the last decade, an influx of International stars invaded the NBA — Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama are just a few names that are synonymous with International talents. This past summer at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, 55 active NBA players represented their countries. Outside the US, Australia (9), Canada(7), and Germany (4) had the most NBA participants. Here’s an incredible stat to add in, Canada has the second most active players on NBA rosters in the 2023-24 season trailing behind the US — not to mention back-to-back NBA World Champions (Jamal Murray of the Denver Nuggets, and Andrew Wiggins of the Golden State Warriors).

From an International lens, the globalization of the NBA has afforded the top players the infrastructure to develop and influence the game on the incredible up-and-coming generation of global stars. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver's continued strategy of forging global partnerships has ultimately expanded the league’s International reach. The NBA hosted six of its pre-season games outside of the U.S. (Abu Dhabi, Canada, Spain, Mexico City). The NBA Global Games will head back to Paris in January 2024 for the second straight year. Paris will also be home to the 2024 Summer Olympics Games, which provides a golden opportunity for the NBA and France to continue the advancement of the sport and, more importantly, to galvanize the global basketball community to come together.

The In-Season Tournament Births New Energy for Younger Audience

With the insertion of the NBA’s Player’s Participation Policy, the focus of the players must shift in regard to treating the regular season as a high priority. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver stated in the policy that star players must play all in-season tournaments and nationally televised games. The NBA’s TV rights deal with TNT and ESPN is roughly worth $2.6 billion annually, and with the iteration of the in-season tournament, there’s a unique opportunity for the league to engage with a more diverse younger audience.

““ Again this isn’t a replacement for the Larry O’Brien Trophy, but it’s also a lot of General Managers and players have pointed out to me, it’s a very long season where their opportunity is to only win one trophy… I’m hopeful that people will say if I can go out and win this in-season tournament and get the NBA Cup that will be meaningful.” - Adam Silver

Commissioner Adam Silver pointed out that the In-season tournament concept originated from International soccer and his premise was to create new excitement for teams and organizations to not only focus on the Larry O’Brien Trophy but to incentivize players about crowning the inaugural NBA Cup Champions. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has become no stranger to innovative ideas that synergize a younger audience. Silver addressed the importance of schedule alignment and the notion of creating attention around an event before Christmas Day. The average NBA fan is a consumer of other sports, and with the NFL and college Football peak season approaching, the In-season tournament can amplify fans NBA’s global audience.

The NBA is considering Three International Cities for Expansions

Last week, Adam Silver revealed expansion plans in cities in Mexico and Canada — Mexico City, Montréal, and Vancouver are cities on the list eyeing 2024-25. This news comes just one year before sources reported that the NBA has plans to expand to Las Vegas, and Seattle— bringing back the Supersonics after their 2008 departure to Oklahoma City. Last Month, the WNBA announced their new expansion franchise in Golden State. Given the unique position that the NBA is in, creates endless opportunities to grow their business. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver joined a live broadcast during the Celtics-Knicks game to discuss the possibilities of expanding further in Canada.

“ I must say, The Toronto Raptors have done a good job with Masai Ujuri of making themselves Canada’s Team. I think as of right now, there’s interest from Montreal as we’ve heard from them and there’s still ongoing interest from Vancouver. There will be more opportunity over time.” - Adam Silver

The Toronto Raptors are Canada’s National Franchise that links the NBA to its incredible fan base, and with the addition of two new expansion franchises, Canada has the power to become a competitive market outside of the U.S. The league hosted its NBA CANADA SERIES in Vancouver and Montréal — Canadians Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lugentz Dort played in front of a sold-out home crowd following their successful FIBA World Cup Campaign. This is a strong indicator of Canada’s high-level talent — No other country outside the U.S. has more players on NBA rosters than Canada. This list includes NBA World Champions Jamal Murray and Andrew Wiggins, Chris Boucher, and All-NBA 1st team Member Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.