Nets CEO Brett Yormark said that the team "seeks out intercontinental trips" such as this Thursday's game against the Hawks at London's O2 Arena, according to Andrew Keh of the N.Y. TIMES. Yormark: "When the league discusses opportunities to play abroad or internationally, I'm typically one of the first to raise his hand to say, 'Take us wherever the NBA brand is going.'" He added the NBA knows the U.K. is "an important market" for the league. Keh notes this week's game will mark the Nets' third trip to O2, as they played a preseason game in '08 and "two regular-season games -- the league's first ones in Britain" -- against the Raptors in '11. Yormark on Wednesday will "participate in a sports-business round-table discussion" alongside execs from EPL club Arsenal and F1 team Infiniti Red Bull Racing. Prior to Mikhail Prokhorov purchasing the Nets in '09, the team "began increasing their global branding efforts when it became clear the team was moving to Brooklyn." Yormark said that the team was "focusing on three markets," in China, Russia and the U.K. Yormark: "While we aspire to be global, we also act local, too. A lot of teams just can't do that" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/13).
