Building relationship

NBA views London arena as key step for future plans

October 10, 2007|Shira Springer, Globe Staff

LONDON - With 12 steel masts stretching more than 100 yards and supporting a circus-style tent large enough to hold 18,000 double-decker buses, the outer shell of the O2 arena creates a unique vision against a backdrop of modern office buildings in southeast London. The sports and entertainment facility sets a new standard, even compared with large, multipurpose American venues. There are 25 restaurants, an 11-screen movie theater, a space called the London Piazza that is converted into a beach during the summer, and a museum that is housing the King Tut exhibit.

The 20,000-seat arena will host its first basketball game today when the Celtics and Minnesota Timberwolves play an exhibition contest, perhaps paving the way for a regular-season NBA game at the venue. With the state-of-the-art arena recently hosting regular-season NHL games, as well as concerts by Justin Timberlake, Prince, and the Rolling Stones, the grand vision for the O2 also could include a London-based NBA team calling it home. Judging how impressed the Celtics and Timberwolves were upon taking the floor for practice, an NBA franchise could move in and feel completely comfortable.

"The O2 center is, I suspect, the best arena in the world at the moment," said London's mayor, Ken Livingstone, who would find little argument from those who have visited the venue, which opened in June on a site that was formerly the failed Millennium Dome. "This has taken a really run-down part of London where nobody ever went and made it a world destination."

While NBA commissioner David Stern knows the league is a long way logistically and financially from expanding to Europe, the building of these arena complexes represents an essential first step. Given the O2 amenities and a Boston-Minnesota game that quickly sold out, Stern proudly mentioned that "For the first time, the economics of a regular-season game [in Europe] may come into sharper focus" and allow the NBA to seriously consider the possibility.

Stern also sees the O2 and the new arena in Berlin serving as a "catalyst for Europe-wide development." AEG, the American company that owns and operates Staples Center in Los Angeles, was the driving force behind the O2 and Berlin arenas. Undoubtedly, AEG will continue pursuing arena development opportunities in Europe. While the Celtics visited Rome last week, city officials were in talks to build a new facility.