Rajesh Sethi, Managing Director, NBA India shares his points of Focus for 2020
Increasing appetite for NBA
The successful conclusion of NBA India Games 2019 proved that India has an appetite for our product and gave the fans the closest and the best possible experience of the brand and the league. It also showed how India has the infrastructure for a sport to grow. This also bodes well for a league to make way for the sport.
Focus on enhancing NBA viewership
All our efforts – from the grassroots initiatives to enhancing viewership to bringing the NBA experience to our fan – are focused on growing the game of basketball in India. There is incredible interest in basketball, and we are committed to providing the coaching and resources to help young Indian boys and girls learn the game and maximize their potential.
NBA Basketball Schools
To supplement our efforts from the grassroots program we have NBA Basketball Schools at the next level (pay-to-play). And for those who aspire to make it big, we have our NBA Academy India. The ecosystem NBA has built across all ages, level and platforms is to grow the sport, starting from the grassroots effort Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA program, pay-to-play Schools and the Academy right at the top of it. It is a pathway for aspiring talent, and not the end goal.
Focus on increasing touchpoints for NBA
Our goal is to make basketball one of the most popular sports in India and draw more fans along the way through increasing touchpoints for our existing and potential fan base across the country. Our games were broadcast in Hindi over the 2018-19 season and we had 15 million unique viewers. The NBA India Facebook page generated more than 1.25B impressions, 4.5 million+ interactions and reached an average of 3.8M fans daily in the same period.
First Ever NBA Store
With NBA products are available in more than 750 retail stores across India and on NBAStore.in on Myntra, the next goal for us would be to have league’s first-ever NBA Store, keeping in mind the ever-increasing demand for the fanwear and merchandise in India.
