IMG Reliance Moves Closer To Creating Indian Basketball League

IMG Reliance has signed a 30-year agreement with the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) to "obtain all commercial rights to basketball in India, the first step in the process of starting a professional league" in the country, according to Belson & Timmons of the N.Y. TIMES. The deal includes "all rights to sponsorships, advertising, broadcasts, merchandising, franchising and video and filming." Financial details were not disclosed. Belson & Timmons noted while a "distant competitor to cricket, basketball is the second-fastest growing sport in India, with four million participants." The NBA has formed a "recreational league in India with the automaker Mahindra," though the IMG Reliance venture "does not include the NBA" (NYTIMES.com, 6/21). BFI Secretary General Harish Sharma, when asked if the deal will affect the NBA's existing efforts in India, said that he "did not see any legal hassle, nor will it disrupt the other BFI programmes." Sharma: "At the end of the day, all of them are meant to promote the game" (INDIANEXPRESS.com, 6/22).

GROWING THE GAME: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Paul Beckett writes, "About the only guarantee is that IMG Reliance will create big money, not necessarily big national teams. But injecting some much-needed financial resources and expertise into both the infrastructure and training of new Indian teams -- and giving them a league on a platform in which to hone their skills -- will be a big step forward that could transform the sport in India" (WSJ.com, 6/22).