The NBA "had one of the biggest booths" at the four-day
"deal-making" SPORTELamerica conference that concludes today
in Miami and attracted 335 companies from 50 countries,
according to Mimi Whitefield of the MIAMI HERALD. Int'l
business "is already big business for the NBA," as its games
are broadcast in 205 countries in 42 languages, but the
league "used SPORTEL to prospect for new telecasters not
only for the NBA, but also for the WNBA, ... USA Basketball,
... and NBA.com TV Daily, a 10-minute daily video feed."
The league "also sought to solidify relationships with its
old customers after last season's lockout." NBA
Commissioner David Stern said that the league's media
revenue from Latin America is up 56% this season over the
previous year, "which was still up despite the lockout."
NBA Latin America Managing Dir Angel Gallinal: "Latin
America is a great market. It has desirable demographics,
and there's great basketball awareness in the key markets:
Brazil, Argentina and Mexico" (MIAMI HERALD, 3/23).
NBA ACTION, IT'S GLOBAL: NBA.com will launch "Global
Week" on Saturday, a week-long feature that will present
content geared toward the global user (NBA)....The NBA and
WNBA have joined with Scholastic to launch Courtside
Reading, a supplemental multimedia reading program to be
used by schools. Under the deal, Scholastic will donate
more than 100,000 books that will be distributed locally by
teams during this month's NBA Reading Month (Scholastic).
