NEW YORK: The National Basketball Association (NBA) announced on Wednesday that it will be hosting a game in London at the iconic The O2 Arena, which is managed by the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG).
It will be a regular season game on Thursday, January 17 2019 between the New York Knicks and the Washington Wizards.
The NBA will begin selling the tickets for the game in the autumn season while it will be broadcast by the league’s broadcast partners in Europe, Middle East, Africa as well as on NBA League Pass International.
This will be the ninth instance of the NBA having a regular season game in London. The New York Knicks will be playing for the third time in the British capital city, having previously taken on the Detroit Pistons in 2013 and the Milwaukee Bucks in 2015. On the other hand, the Wizards will be playing for the first time in the nation. All the previous games were sold out, reflecting the league’s popularity in the UK.
The NBA has also planned a variety of interactive fan activities, NBA Cares community outreach initiatives and junior basketball programming off the court, that will bring the NBA experience to fans in London.
The marketing partners of the event will be Foot Locker, Gatorade, Nike, SAP and Tissot. The league will announce additional partners in the coming months.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver commented on the announcement: “We’ve been playing regular-season match-ups in London for nearly a decade, and over that time the games and the surrounding festivities have grown into the equivalent of an NBA All-Star experience transported to Europe. Fans and partners from across the continent come to celebrate basketball and enjoy the excitement and experience of an NBA game.”
AEG vice president of Sports, Gael Caselli expressed delight at another regular season game being held at The O2 Arena. “Playing host to a regular-season NBA game is a huge privilege for us and has become a cornerstone event in our sporting calendar. With its unrivalled reputation, The O2 is the perfect venue and we look forward to welcoming our NBA friends each year. I know the 2019 clash between the Washington Wizards and the New York Knicks will be another unmissable game.”
