NBA’s Africa League Struggles to Find Fans, Faces Mounting Losses
Money raised in 2021 is running out as the NBA’s first league outside of North America has trouble drawing crowds.
The NBA’s Basketball Africa League’s 2023 final in Kigali, Rwanda.
Source: Basketball Africa League
The National Basketball Association Inc.’s African league, which counts former US President Barack Obama as a strategic adviser, is facing mounting losses as it seeks to build a following in the region, sometimes resorting to bussing in fans to help fill empty seats.
The Basketball Africa League, now entering its fourth season, is the NBA’s sole professional league outside the US, and its most ambitious international expansion since it attempted to break through in China two decades ago on the coat-tails of Hall of Fame center Yao Ming.