A Brazilian will be in charge of operating the NBA in Canada – the only country with a ‘non-USA’ team competing in the traditional American basketball league.
The NBA has chosen Arnon de Mello to lead its entire operation in the Americas – with the exception of the USA.
Arnon will continue as vice president of the NBA and managing director for Latin America, and will now also oversee the Canadian operation.
Rodrigo Vicentini and Raul Zarraga, who were in charge of operations in Brazil and Mexico, have left their positions (and Vicentini has left the company).
“We made a restructuring after the new global media agreement,” Arnon told Brazil Journal, referring to the NBA’s largest game broadcast agreement signed in July. “It no longer made sense to have different operations, and I will be more involved with the operations.”
The NBA sold its rights for the next 11 years for $77 billion to Disney, NBCUniversal, and Amazon. The contract, which increased the league’s average annual broadcast revenue by 2.5 times, will take effect in the 2025/26 season.
According to Arnon, the NBA’s increased penetration outside the USA – especially in Brazil and Mexico – was a major driver for the record set in the new contract, as there is less room for growth in more mature markets.
Data from the site Sports Media Watch shows that the NBA playoffs last season saw a 12% decrease compared to the previous season.
Brazil, on the other hand, is on the rise. The country has become the third largest market for the NBA, behind only the USA and China, with Mexico following closely.
In the last season, the number of hours watched of live NBA games in Brazil increased by 51%. Additionally, there was a 28% increase in NBA League Pass subscribers – the league’s exclusive streaming service.
Despite having a smaller audience than Brazil and Mexico, Canada generates more revenue, thanks to the Toronto Raptors team that won its first title in 2019.
Arnon said he was invited to take over the operation after a restructuring in the Canadian office – and the success seen in the Brazilian operation helped with the promotion.
The executive – who opened the NBA office in Brazil in 2012 – has been one of the main drivers behind the franchise’s growth in the country since then.
Even without prominent Brazilian players, the American league more than doubled its Brazilian fan base from 2017 to 2023, according to a survey conducted by Ibope. Today, there are 46.1 million Brazilians who consider themselves NBA fans.
The NBA currently has 33 stores in Brazil, all franchises.
In the last season – from October 2023 to June this year – sales in these stores increased by 51% compared to the previous year.
“Our intention is to expand this store expansion in Canada,” said Arnon. “The opening of new stores is seen in the NBA as a great opportunity.”
A Brazilian invention has been exported: the NBA House. In 2017, the Brazilian operation created a concept house for fans to watch the NBA finals – tickets, which were initially free, sold out within minutes and started being charged.
This year, 45,000 people paid R$150 tickets per day to watch the five final games between the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks at the NBA House.
“We will expand this platform to countries like Mexico, Chile, and Argentina,” said Arnon.
The NBA also plans to popularize other leagues it is involved in, such as the WNBA (Women’s), the G League (Rookies), and the Basketball Africa League, which the NBA itself created on the African continent.
“We will focus more on distributing other products, as our challenge for the next cycle will be finding new sources of revenue,” he said.
The NBA also intends to increase the number of events in Brazil and around the world.
Some ideas have already emerged, such as organizing new versions of the NBA House for other significant moments of the season, like the All-Star Game and the NBA Cup final, an off-season tournament created by the league simply to generate more revenue.
Additionally, the NBA is also considering creating a league in Europe and sees potential in exploring India, an overlooked market.
“There is a lot of potential,” said Arnon. “But what excites me the most is that three of the five largest markets in the world are with us: Brazil, Mexico, and Canada.”
Source
Arwen Volkov, A graduate of the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland with a degree in International Finance, Arwen specializes in sustainable finance and green investments. She began her career at an investment bank in London, where she developed financing models for environmentally friendly projects. Known for her analytical and strategic thinking skills, Arwen is a sought-after financial consultant. In her spare time, she mentors fintech startups, contributing to their growth strategies. She is also a nature enthusiast and an amateur photographer.
