NBA Europe

I think that idea is pretty absurd. The travel demands would be incredible. But on a related note, the English Premier League (soccer.. er.. football) recently leaked the idea of playing one round of matches overseas. In an interesting cultural comparison, the NBA talks of expanding to teams actually based in Europe, and we in America barely blink. In England, there are rumors of playing just one round of matches overseas (sort of like the NFL and NHL played regular season games in London this year) and tons of fans in England are going balistic about it.

The plan was for 2010, I believe. FIFA (the worldwide soccer body) today came out against the plan, so it is looking unlikely at this point. Anyway, I really don't think it is about timing. I think it is about the difference of culture and custom. Football in England is a very local, community thing with very strong rivalries and traditions. It is entirely unheard of for clubs to move. Each club owns their own grounds, and their supporters feel like they own the club. Even the biggest clubs with foreign, millionaire players and foreign, billionaire owners are still considered of and part of the community, in a way that American teams could only envy. The closest comparison I can think of would be the Green Bay Packers.