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NBA's Philippe Moggio Discusses League's 'Very Strong Commitment' To Latin America

Last Wednesday night saw the NBA make a successful return to Mexico City, as the Houston Rockets defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 113-101 in front of 18,996 fans at Mexico City Arena. Mexican fans got the up-close look at NBA regular-season action that they were denied a year ago when a generator malfunction during pregame forced a San Antonio Spurs-T-Wolves game to be canceled. NBA VP of Latin America Philippe Moggio called the game the latest example of the league's "very strong commitment" to Latin America. The commitment, which includes a N.Y.-based six-man team dedicated to Latin America in addition to two six-person offices in Rio de Janeiro and Mexico City, appears to be paying dividends. The NBA's online presence, media coverage, marketing partnerships and merchandise sales in Latin America are all on the rise. Latin American fans now have access to four language-specific websites: enebea.com, NBA.com/Mexico, NBA.com/Argentina and NBA.com/Brasil, and NBA.com registered a total of more than 90 million page views -- nearly 1 million unique visitors per month -- from Latin America during the '13-14 season. The league has three pan-regional TV partners (ESPN, Turner and DirecTV) across Latin America and boasts Latin American marketing partnerships with several brands including adidas, BBVA, Coca-Cola and Gatorade. Fans throughout the region also have access to 3,500 NBA retail locations thanks to the league's 25 Latin American merchandising partners. Moggio: "All those metrics that we measure our business by are really growing at very attractive levels over the past two years." The league also launched a marketing campaign called "Todos Arriba" in October, with a "Roll Call" spot featuring Latin musician Henry Santos debuting on Oct. 23.

'GREAT TIME IN RIO': The NBA's popularity overseas was evident as basketball fans all over the world filled up stadiums for each of the five preseason games held outside the U.S. Latin America was no exception, as a Cleveland Cavaliers-Miami Heat game in Rio de Janeiro drew a sellout crowd of 15,411. The other games -- which all drew sold out crowds -- took place in Berlin (14,504), Istanbul (12,191), Beijing (17,130) and Shanghai (17,381). Moggio said the clash between the Cavs and the Heat generated an "unbelievable" level of demand for tickets. "It was amazing," he said. "We essentially sold tickets in two windows. We opened up a window before the World Cup. ... That window sold out very quickly, in a couple of hours. We went on sale for the rest after the World Cup, when we announced our presenting partner [telecom] Oi in Brazil. The sellout was in just a few hours." Moggio added that the game drew interest not only from fans, but also from local businesses, as the exhibition in Rio secured 14 marketing partners. In its effort to provide a gameday experience beyond the on-court action, the NBA set up five retail locations of its Loja e-commerce store in the arena to enable fans to buy merchandise. Thanks to activities organized by sponsors, fans were also able to take pictures dunking and dress up as players. "It was a very exciting atmosphere," Moggio said. "That's part of what we want to bring when we bring an NBA game into any market outside of the U.S. We want to provide our fans locally with the opportunity to feel as if they're witnessing an NBA game in any of our NBA arenas in the U.S. With that comes a very big infrastructure of our event staff and teams to be able to provide that level of entertainment." In addition to the fan engagement opportunities the night of the game, the league carried out several NBA Cares events and other activities to allow fans to meet players, including a fan zone at one of Rio's most well-known beaches. Moggio: "We had a great presence at Ipanema Beach, where we built what we call a fan zone. This was an NBA experience essentially, open to the public in one of the most iconic beaches in the world. It was the opportunity for fans to walk in and see our dance teams performing, seeing some of our players coming by to interact with the crowd and do different skill challenges with competitors."

NBA 3X: The NBA's push to increase basketball's growth in Latin America includes a growing emphasis on a quicker, more fluid version of the product fans see on TV. NBA 3X promotes 3-on-3 basketball, a version of the game Moggio expects to one day see adopted by FIBA, for a couple of reasons. "It's an easier way to participate in the sport, to practice the sport," Moggio said. "Because it only entails having a team of three, you play half-court, and it's much more fluid and quicker." He added that NBA 3X allows the league to provide fans outside the U.S. a chance to not only participate in the sport, but also enjoy NBA entertainment and interact with current and former players, dancers and mascots. From August through October, the NBA held five 3X events: three in Brazil along with tournaments in Mexico and Argentina. Moggio was particularly pleased with the turnout for NBA 3X's visit to Buenos Aires from Sept. 20-21, its first trip to Argentina. The event was staged in the middle of Buenos Aires' Tecnópolis park. The NBA 3X held there drew a total of more than 30,000 people, Moggio estimated. Drumming up interest proved to be no problem, as 120 men's and women's teams across multiple categories participated after a registration period that lasted less than a day and a half. "That’s a little different than we've seen in other markets," Moggio said. "That just shows how much the sport is really participated and practiced in Argentina. It's a market where you already see a ton of passion for basketball, so it's not about necessarily pushing the participation, but about giving back to that great, avid market."

MOVING FORWARD: As for plans for an exhibition game in Buenos Aires, Moggio said that while Argentina is a market the league is considering, a number of variables dictate where the league is able to hold preseason games. For one, a venue must be capable of hosting the entertainment component the NBA looks to bring alongside the game itself. The league also has to weigh demand from other markets and balance that with the limited number of teams willing and able to play their preseason games overseas. The NBA has yet to finalize where its int'l preseason games will be held ahead of the '15-16 season. Moggio: "It's a big puzzle that needs to be put together and every year, we try to think out longer and longer. Hopefully we'll be announcing preseason plans over the course of the season, soon. It will be pretty exciting to see the places we will be going."

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