Basketball fans can look forward to NBA events in Singapore with new multi-year deal

SINGAPORE: A two-week festival featuring stars from the United States professional basketball league NBA will be held in June. 

The event, which will take place during this mid-year school holidays, will culminate in the NBA’s Rising Stars Invitational - the league’s first regional basketball tournament for players aged 18 and under - between Jun 25 and 29. 

The competition will take place at the Kallang Alive precinct and see promising young talents from 10 countries and territories around the region, including Singapore, in action.

There will also be clinics and community programmes.

At a media event at JW Marriott Hotel Singapore South Beach on Thursday (Feb 6), the NBA announced that the festival is the first part of its multi-year deal with Sport Singapore (SportSG) and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) to bring the league’s events here. 

Two-time NBA champion Chris Bosh also attended the event. 

UPPING THE GAME

Ms Sheila Rasu, head of marketing at NBA Asia, noted that youths here typically only get to compete with peers within the country.

“We think that it is important to have even more playing time, even more competing time," said Ms Rasu.

"By (us) inviting their peers from around the region, they are able to see how other countries and territories play, what their level is (and) how they can (improve) to that level."

The National Sports Participation Survey released in 2023 showed that basketball was the fourth most popular sport among teens aged 13 to 19, after jogging, badminton and walking.

The festival is among the nation’s sports tourism plans.

"When this chance came to work with the NBA to bring something here, we worked very hard at it. This adds to what we've done together in partnership with the tourism board to bring world class sporting events to Singapore,” said SportSG CEO Alan Goh.

Talks are underway to secure some star power for the event, said Ms Rasu. 

"At the moment, we are still talking to a few of them. It's going to depend on their schedules in the summer. The season is still going on, so we'll have to wait it out. But we are definitely talking to both current and retired players, both from the NBA, and also the WNBA (Women's NBA),” she said. 

SPORTS TOURISM IMPACT

If the sporting personalities do make an appearance - even if they do not play in Singapore - their presence would build up buzz around the sport, which has the potential to elevate the country’s status as a sports tourism destination, said Mr Nicholas Fang, managing director of Novastella Consulting, a Singapore-based consultancy with expertise in brand partnerships and sponsorships.

“Having a multi year deal to bring in events is a great step forward to boosting the stable of sports events that we have in Singapore that are global, high-profile (and) have a broad appeal across demographics, and potentially will draw people from other countries to come here as a destination to consume the product as well,” he told CNA’s Singapore Tonight. 

He added that such events also can have an impact on the sports culture in Singapore. 

“These events are also just a catalyst to get more young people interested and excited about sports and saying ‘maybe I want to do that as a career’ as well,” he said.

“So, it's not just money. There's an (aspect) of sports culture and potentially, impact on our sports people as well.”

As Singapore expands its list of international sporting events, Mr Fang urged more corporate sponsorship for them. 

However, he acknowledged that firms are more likely to come forward if people here are willing to pay money to watch games and buy merchandise.

“If you have a space and you have the seating, you need to fill the seats with sports fans. And I think we really want to see more Singaporeans transitioning to become sports fans - not just of the national team, not only supporting it when Singaporean athletes are doing well or competing - but to really appreciate sports as an entertainment product,” he said. 

He added that Singapore should also consider high-profile events in emerging sports like pickleball and padel.