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India lacks a world class stadium to host NBA teams: COO Mark Tatum
NBA, with a big following in India, is keen after holding two pre-season games in Mumbai in 2019, but the issue of infrastructure needs to be sorted out first, he says.
The absence of a world class indoor sports facility in India was holding back the National Basketball Association (NBA) from bringing pre-season games to the country, its deputy commissioner Mark Tatum said on Friday.
In 2019, NBA held two international pre-season games at the NSCI Dome in Mumbai, between Indiana Pacers and Sacramento Kings, which is owned by the Mumbai-born US business executive Vivek Ranadive.
The league’s commissioner Adam Silver had said last October that it would bring more pre-season games, but Tatum said in a virtual media conference that there was nothing on the table.
“When we played our games in 2019 it was a great experience. We brought the Sacramento Kings, which is owned by Vivek Ranadive. I had the opportunity to be there. It was a historic moment... our first ever games in India. We would love to return and but there are no concrete plans right now,” Tatum said in a video call from Salt Lake City, Utah.
The only time NBA held international games in India was made possible by Ranadive, 65, the founder and CEO of TIBCO Software, a business intelligence software company.
Tatum said: “One of the challenges is the infrastructure, the facilities there. Believe it or not, in all of India there is not one arena (that can host NBA games). We made the facility in Mumbai work but we had to bring in scoreboards, locker rooms, seating; we brought in everything. And that is a pretty big and heavy lift,” said Tatum, who is also the NBA COO.
“A country like India should have a world-class indoor facility. That is one of the things we have to work on before we are going to be able to commit to doing another game there. But there is no doubt that in the world’s second most, soon to be most, populous country in the world we need to return there.”
Asked about NBA’s immediate plans for India, he said: “We are seeing tremendous growth of the game. We are doing the grassroots programme. We have, with the Reliance Foundation, the junior NBA programme that is reaching millions of kids though schools. We have a basketball academy in India. Several of the academy graduates are representing the Indian national team. So, we are developing high level talent there.”
A total of 33 players – 25 men and eight women – have come through the NBA academy to play for the national team.
“Our distribution, partnership with Viacom18 and Prasar Bharti has seen us reach a 100 million unique viewers this year, which is a record for us. Our social media metrics are up. We have (actor) Ranveer Singh, who is participating in our celebrity game. He is creating all sorts of content for us throughout the year, not just game but style content that are appealing to Indian fans.
“Hasan Minhaj, an Indian-American comedian, also participated in celebrity games. So, there is a huge focus for us on that country. But the thing we have to have in place before we are able to play our next game there is to see some investment in infrastructure, in a facility that can host an NBA pre-season game going forward.”
The 2023 NBA All-Star Game will be played at the Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City on Sunday, which will mark the 30th anniversary of the first All-Star Game in Utah.
