Slam Dunk Central

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The NBA, already a behemoth in pro sports media distribution, will expand even further, according to nba.com. It is estimated that the league will offer television distribution in 215 countries and in 41 languages.? As of this writing, the NBA already has a record 202?TV networks this season, of which 14 are offering NBA content for the first time, including CBC (Canada) and TVB Pearl and Jade (Hong Kong).

The league has also renewed key partnerships in some substantial markets such as NHK (Japan), Five (the UK), SKY and SportItalia (Italy), Premiere (Germany), 7TV (Russia) and Beijing TV (China).? So you can imagine not only the saturation, but the income potential from these existing and new markets that the NBA are established in.

What also works in the NBA’s favor is the new (and probably long-lasting) rivalry between Houston Rockets center Yao Ming and Milwaukee Bucks forward Yi Jianlian.? That alone should provide big ratings in Asia, especially mainland China.? In addition, the NBA will follow up their success of 2007 NBA Europe Live with expanded programming in the region.? Specifically in Europe, the league will offer a new program called “NBA 360″ that will air in important time slots in several European markets.? This offering is already being aired in Germany, the UK, Russia, Hungary and Slovenia.

While all of this is good news for the NBA financially, there is always the risk of “over-saturation”, as there are plenty of nations who have other sports that are big in the nations of record.??A good example is the UK (soccer, rugby) and several European nations (again, soccer and rugby).? Most nations are safe for the NBA but again, some nations have sports that were big well before the NBA decided to go global, so that’s a minor risk that the NBA has decided to take.