At the end of its second edition of its NBA Cupthe NBA will be able to draw the first lessons from its new competition. Despite a format that is not always readable, it has the merit of bringing the stakes to the start of the regular season and this was the main objective of the maneuver. The players are in any case motivated to add one more line to their record, even if they have to play more matches, again and again, and the coaches deplore the lack of harmonization of the calendar for those who go to the end… .
What about the audience? The Final Four held in Las Vegas was supposed to be a great basketball celebration, but for the moment, it is not reflected in the attendance figures, the T-Mobile Arena having not yet managed to fill up only once, despite the presence of historic franchises like LeBron James' Lakers who won the first edition last year.
Of the five games held in Nevada so far, including last year's final, none have yet sold out, with an average of 16,000 to 19,000 fans in a venue that can accommodate 21,000.
Find a “neutral” place
How to try to boost your product? Several options would be under study. The semi-finals could be returned to local markets, to reward their progress and offer one more high-stakes match to the different “fanbase”. Now called the “Emirates NBA Cup”, the final could also be exported to the Middle East, such as Abu Dhabi, where the league has been based in recent years, even if this option would add new constraints to an already crazy schedule. .
According to the “Sports Business Journal”, other cities are in the running to host the final stages or the final. Tampa, Nashville, San Diego and Mexico City were notably cited.
“As long as it’s somewhere warm, I’m fine with it. Just no places where it’s cold, please”, Doc Rivers replied.. “I don't even subscribe to the fact that Las Vegas should be the city where the final should be played. It's just that it's a neutral site, which is already very difficult to find. If they want to move it to another neutral site, sites where there are hot cities, I think everyone would be OK with that.”
