Indiana Pacers to play future preseason game in India

The Indiana Pacers are making history, as they will play in the NBA’s first ever game in India.

The NBA is attempting to expand their global brand and reach a larger amount of countries around the world. The mission is to increase the league’s worldwide popularity. Now, the Indiana Pacers are a part of that plan.

The team announced today that they will play two preseason games in Mumbai against the Sacramento Kings next October:

This game will be the first official time that any NBA team has played a game in India, which falls right in line with the NBA’s goal of expanding global popularity. This signalized in the team’s statement, in which they say “[These games are] marking the first games the NBA has played in India and the first games staged in the country by a North American sports league.”

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The games will happen on back-to-back days, on October 4th and 5th 2019. They will be hosted at the NSCI dome. NBA commissioner Adam Silver spoke in thanks of the Pacers organization for being a part of the event:

“Our inaugural NBA India Games will help further untap the enormous basketball potential in a country with a thriving sports culture and a growing, young and engaged population. We thank the Kings and Pacers organizations for participating in this historic event.”

Beyond just the basketball games, the league will also be hosting “youth basketball programming and NBA Cares community outreach events that will bring the NBA experience to fans in Mumbai.” It is great to see the Pacers involved in events that will have such a massive impact on the community of another country.

If you’ll recall, the Indiana Pacers did not play a home preseason game this year. This event may cause that to the case next year as well. We will have to see once next years schedule is released, but rumblings suggest the team was in talks to have an overseas preseason game this year and that impacted their scheduling at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Perhaps that will happen again.

Also, this game creates a great photoshop opportunity:

This is a great opportunity for the Pacers. It is great to see them expanding their global brand and helping the NBA become more popular on the planet. This game and associated events will be a great experience.