NBA To Sign Partnership With Brazil's Top Domestic Baskeball League

The NBA has "struck a groundbreaking partnership" with Liga Nacional de Basquete, Brazil’s top basketball league, in which the two will "share best practices, marketing strategies, and player development techniques," according to sources cited by Zach Lowe of GRANTLAND. The goal of the partnership is to "increase the sport’s profile in Brazil, deepen cooperation between the NBA and top FIBA leagues, and expand the NBA’s international brand." Sources said that the agreement "could be announced by early next month, and the NBA will likely obtain an equity stake in the LNB as part of the deal." The deal will likely have the NBA "sending both cash and people into Brazil for at least two years." This is a "stand-alone arrangement, but it falls within the larger context of the NBA’s quest for global sporting dominance and potential interest in eventually unifying the sport at the highest level under one set of rules" (GRANTLAND.com, 10/27).