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The NBA and 2K are forming an e-sports league, 30 teams owned by NBA teams

ThEoRy...

Member
But why would they not want to represent the actual NBA players in the game? Seems like a huge wasted opportunity to give the players more exposure.
 

Stix_Remix

Neo Member
But why would they not want to represent the actual NBA players in the game? Seems like a huge wasted opportunity to give the players more exposure.

Most likely royalties or other contractual agreements, as well as image issues. Players may not wanting their image associated with poor plays (or even eSports players playing "better" than their real life counterparts).

Edit: grammar fixes
 

Mandoric

Banned
The NBA owners also had a big presentation on eSports a year or two ago where they saw that gazillions of young men - their primary target audience who is also not watching sports nearly as much as older generals - watch eSports, and all of them wanted to proactively get into that scene.

I suspect we'll see this with the NFL and FIFA soon as well, as they had similar presentations and concerns, and have an even harder time (especially the NFL) getting younger audiences on board.

PSG and Schalke 04 already have second-divison LoL squads; I'm guessing that other organizations are waiting for one of them to promote and demonstrate a payoff before we see a feeding frenzy.
 
The NBA has enlisted 17 of its 30 teams to participate in the upcoming NBA 2K League, a joint project between the NBA and Take-Two Interactive Software, it was announced Thursday morning.

The NBA 2K league will debut in 2018, and will feature the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Detroit Pistons, Golden State Warriors, Indiana Pacers, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings, Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards.

Via ESPN
 
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