With the arrival this summer of Qatari investors, Paris Saint-Germain has taken a new dimension to financial, sports and media. The French basketball hopes all things considered, do the same with the return of French players playing in the NBA (American basketball championship). Captain of a team runner-France the last European Championship, Tony Parker "PT" rise, by itself, a popular craze and the media. Thursday, after holding a press conference to announce his arrival in Villeurbanne, "TP" is chained interviews with journalists, specialists, general economic and before finishing the day on the set of 20 hours of TF1. The private channel was made to blow an audience of 6.3 million viewers, "in line with its average of the last month," according to TF1.If the number is not unusual, the presence of Tony Parker on a "20 hours" shows how the return creates interest.
The trademarks "TP" and "Asvel" associate
The club has also Villeurbanne prepared a communication plan for the arrival of "TP". "We have to associate the name" Tony Parker "with that of the Asvel on match tickets and through the sale of products ever created before," said Julien Lepron, marketing director of Asvel. The club has also provided marketing operations at the first game of Tony Parker, Oct. 14 against Paris, his first club … "Two thousand spectators who arrive early at the Astroballe (name of the speaker Villeurbanne ), will receive a jersey "replica" of Tony Parker, "said Julien Lepron, marketing director of Asvel.For this unprecedented meeting, Villeurbanne, whose average attendance last season was about 5,000 spectators (for a 5500-seat hall), aims to play a sold as the next three.
For its part, the official broadcaster of the basketball championship, Sport + (Canal + group) decided to schedule the meeting of Villeurbanne and Paris, while it was not originally planned. Three of five of the first meetings will also be broadcast Asvel including the clash between Nancy and Villeurbanne, the champion title in France which also hosts a French NBA, Nicolas Batum. "As the campaign for subscriptions is not yet closed, we have already recorded more than 1550 subscriptions against 1296 last year, said Jean-Charles Brégeon, general secretary of the basketball club Nancy no fax pay day loan.In terms of sponsorship, we expect revenue of 2 million euros against 1.7 million last year. "
Canal + prefer handball basketball
Still, all broadcasters, clubs and leagues are willing to realize that these returns will not solve the lack of visibility of French basketball. "The return of French NBA should not be the umpteenth buzz around the sport," said Julien Lepron. A discourse that looks suspiciously like the one held in 2000 after France won a silver medal at the Sydney Olympics. Eleven years later, the French basketball has lost ground and seems to have been overtaken by the handball. So much so that the Canal + group intends to make handball "his third team sport on its channels" according to Cyril Linette, Director of Sport Canal +."These words are hard to hear, says a leader of a big French club, who would like the league is looking at the return of basketball on the public channels. But it shows that competition is fierce between sports and we need to make the product "basketball" more attractive ". Didier Domat, a lawyer with Taylor Wessing, which manages the contracts of Tony Parker among others, the solution lies in building new facilities in France. "There is a lack of modern facilities for basketball in France, he says. The current facilities are not consistent with the economic issues inherent in the sport. The clubs are struggling to attract investors because they know they will not earn money by investing in basketball. It is difficult to have an entrepreneurial approach. "
In less than a year of London Olympics
Especially the basketball clubs in France have means significantly lower than their European competitors. "To hope to win the Euroleague (equivalent of the Champions League in basketball), a club must have a budget of 15 to 18 million euros and 10-12000000 if hoping to be included, says Julien Lepron. " The budget for the champion title in France, Nancy, is around 5 million … "The French basketball was exceeded by the demands of professionalism, recognizes Lepron Julien. Leaders must capitalize on the return of the Blues in France. And even more so in less than a year ago the Olympics. " Asvel side, it is hoped that Tony Parker will bring their project to large room.
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