Union Launched To Commercialise Basketball in the UK

The British Basketball Union, a new entity to promote the commercial development of basketball in the UK, was launched on Saturday.

The organisation, a commercial partnership between British Performance Basketball, responsible for the Great Britain national teams, the British Basketball League, England Basketball and Basketball Scotland, aims to help market basketball to a wider audience using the Olympics as a springboard. It wants to improve and enhance the basketball customer experience, and to create and deliver common tools to engage and mobilize the basketball community in Great Britain.

Using the strap line ‘Closer to the Action’, the BBU will seek sport wide opportunities with potential sponsorship and media partners through a new strategic marketing approach, as well as becoming a ‘first stop shop’ for anyone seeking to get involved in the sport.

Kevin Routledge, a Director of the BBU, said its launch is a big step in the right direction for British basketball:

“This is a very important step forward for the sport. We are all tremendously excited about the prospects for basketball in this country, in light of the spotlight of London 2012, and as a unified sport we believe we can provide a service to those interested in the sport, particularly those catalysed by the Olympics.”

Simon Tuckey, BPB’s Commercial Director, and now a Director of the BBU, added:

“Basketball has a great opportunity to take a big step forward this year, and, as a sport we are absolutely determined to seize it. Our ‘Closer to the Action’ focuses really on what makes our sport uniquely attractive – high class, athletic action, you can almost touch – something other sports struggle to match. We want to make it very easy for everyone fired up by London 2012 to be able to easily engage in the sport, and the BBU will make that happen.”

Thoughts?