NBA AND EUROLEAGUE BASKETBALL ANNOUNCE NBA EUROPE LIVE PRESENTED BY EA SPORTS
NBA Teams to Compete in a European Tournament Sponsored by EA SPORTS the Event is the First Initiative of EA and NBA New Global Marketing Partnership
Chertsey, UK - Jun 14, 2005 - Four NBA teams will head to Europe for a competition against top European basketball clubs in October 2006 and 2007 as part of NBA Europe Live presented by EA SPORTSTM, the NBA and Euroleague Basketball announced today. As part of a two-year partnership agreement with Electronic Arts and Euroleague Basketball, the four NBA teams will compete in five European countries.
"This is the NBA's most ambitious European basketball competition," said NBA Commissioner David Stern. "NBA Europe Live will exemplify how sports leagues around the world can work together for the long-term growth of their sport. As the relevance of basketball continues to grow globally, the NBA and EA SPORTS share a vision that delivers basketball, entertainment, music and technology to our fans around the world."
An NBA licensee since 1991, EA has expanded its relationship with the league to become an official global marketing partner of the NBA, the first developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software to be designated with this status. As a global marketing partner, EA will work with the NBA to develop interactive basketball programs around the world, including NBA Europe Live presented by EA SPORTS.
The award-winning NBA LIVE franchise, recognized worldwide for delivering the most authentic interactive basketball experience for more than a decade, will be featured in promotion of the events throughout Europe and the U.S. The newest iteration in the series, NBA LIVE 06, will be available this October in more than 100 countries on six continents.
"Like sports, video games have a global appeal that transcends language and borders," said Electronic Arts Chairman and CEO Larry Probst. "At EA, we're proud to be an ambassador for one of the world's most exciting sports, NBA Basketball."
Building on the league's success in Europe and its relationship with Euroleague Basketball, the four NBA teams will compete in games against top Euroleague Basketball teams and conduct training camps. NBA Europe Live presented by EA SPORTS will culminate with a final event in a fifth European country featuring games with two NBA teams, the Euroleague Basketball Champion and Euroleague Basketball runner-up.
"Years of steady, positive relations between the NBA and Euroleague Basketball have covered diverse aspects of sports organization and this partnership will continue to cultivate the success of basketball in Europe," said Euroleague Basketball CEO Jordi Bertomeu. "This partnership will help to continue the tradition of basketball excellence and achievement, contribute to the growth of the sport and will benefit European fans by offering them another chance to enjoy great basketball."
The announcement will be carried live on both NBA TV and NBA.com at 7:45 p.m. Eastern. Additional information about NBA Europe Live presented by EA SPORTS will be announced later this year.
The NBA's last visit to Europe was in 2003 for the NBA Europe Games, which featured a preseason game between that year's NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs and the Memphis Grizzlies, at Bercy Arena in Paris, France. San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker returned home to his native France for the first time with his NBA team before a sellout crowd. The Memphis Grizzlies went on to play an exhibition game against 2003 Euroleague Champions FC Barcelona at Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, Spain. The game featured Memphis Grizzlies star forward Pau Gasol, a native of Barcelona, Spain, playing against his former team.
About the NBA
Since its founding in 1946, the NBA has become a global phenomenon that transcends national boundaries. With 30 teams in the United States and Canada, NBA games and related programming are broadcast to 214 countries in 43 languages. The NBA is one of the largest suppliers of sports television and Internet programming in the world. Through NBA Entertainment, the league's award-winning production and programming division, the league produces NBA TV, a 24-hour television network, weekly television shows, and exclusive content for each of the NBA's team web sites, and the league's official sites, NBA.com, WNBA.com and NBDL.com. The league has also continued its partnerships with the leading Internet content and technology providers to bring the game experience even closer to its fans worldwide. For more information on the NBA, visit NBA.com.
About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for videogame systems, personal computers and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTSTM, EATM, EA SPORTS BIGTM and POGOTM. In fiscal 2005, EA posted revenues of $3.1 billion and had 31 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.electronicarts.co.uk. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at www.electronicarts.co.uk/press.
About Euroleague Basketball
Europe's premier basketball competition, Euroleague Basketball, was founded in 2000 under a private organizational model that is considered a breakthrough for European professional team sports. The competition features 24 clubs from 12 or more countries per season and crowns its champion each spring at the Final Four, one of the signature events of European sports. Basketball in Europe has experienced spectacular growth in recent years, side by side with the development of Euroleague Basketball. In just five years, Euroleague Basketball has consolidated a competition of the highest sporting level, has introduced the concept of a commercial league to Europe and has expanded its television reach beyond Europe, where 98.7 percent of all Euroleague Basketball games were televised in 2004-05, to Africa, the Middle East, North America and South America.