NexxNow Brings Basketball One Step Closer
According to Paul Riley, President and CEO of NexxNow, the company’s business plan is to deliver US Sports content to China. “Our intent with the Dragons is to broadcast the Dragons’ games back to China. We plan to have a roster of 5-6 national players from China. Hence the name “Dragons,” as it is inspired by our China initiative,” says Riley.
The team will open the doors to new sportsteam in the city and put Buffalo on the international map as well as serving to facilitate a local rivalry. A PBL team exists in nearby Rochester, who actually won the championship last year in front of 10,000 fans. The season doesn’t start till January 2009 and runs till May 2009.
Jean-Paul Afif is the new Dragons coach and general manager. Afif played in the NBA, the NBA-D League, and had a long overseas career. In February of this year he was named ABA Western All-Star Coach of the Year.
The economic impact the new basketball team has in Buffalo remains to be seen but should be significant. NexxNow is currently based out of East Aurora, but Riley says, “We may move to a new office in the area in the next few months.”
Check out www.buffalodragons.com to stay up-to-date on the latest team developments. You can also check out NexxNow’s website at www.nexxnow.com to learn more about the company and its goals.
{Edited at the request of NexxNow}
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mbhxam
:/
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allentwnguy1
While the economic impact and international exposure will be great for Buffalo...I wish we could have done this without the connection to China.
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LivingForge
Awesome, allentwnguy1, awesome. /snark
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BuffaloDave
Its interesting and outside of the box - but it also has to be one of the strangest things I have heard. If there is this deep connection to China - who from here is going to the games and feel like a fan? Please someone, enlighten me! Not buying the Rochester rivalry argument either. This seems to doomed from the beginning. I hope I'm wrong.
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al-alo
this may sound crazy, but this could be good exposure for Buffalo in a booming country. Id guess that most folks in China dont know were Buffalo is, or that it exists. If it works out, its free advertising in the worlds largest market. that cant be a bad thing. well, unless all game souvenirs are coated with healthy dose of lead paint.
hey, and the logo could only be an improvement on that silverbacks thing.
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enrique14150
Yeah haven't they already tried a team here (Silverbacks)? At least that had some local players from UB and Canisius that fans could relate to. As a basketball fan I go to almost every UB home game and a few road games. This project doesn't interest me at all.
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ToughintheStreets
BuffaloDave I think their using the China angle as a way to insure a successful business plan. China is a huge market for sports especially basketball. I believe they're trying to capitalize on the similar success of NBA Stars like Yao Ming. Typically pro teams with Chinese/Japanese stars on them become very popular in the home country of that star. The idea is that if they call it the Dragons and have stars from the national team more people in China will be inclined to watch and become fans creating more revenue for the team. (How I'm not sure) Its difficult to maintain a semi-pro/amateur sports team in Buffalo and capitalizing on a market as large as China's may be the way to do it. They may be on to something here. I don't think home games are going to look like scenes from Karate Kid 2 if thats what your asking. It will still be an american basketball team but with a name and some players that appeal to a Chinese audience. You make a good point though. I can see how taht might happen. I hope your wrong too.
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tbayz1
I think its great having a mixed team with top Chinese talent and top American talent. Also theres a lot of money in TV, especially in China, with 2 billion people there. If you go to NexxNow's site and click on "Investor Info" look what the NBA is doing. Their NBA China Initiative is valued at 2.3 billion!!! And more people watched Yao play against Yi than the superbowl, in fact double the amount. NexxNow has the a good vision here, I've bought into it.
At least the Dragons have a great place to play and they're in a great league. Rochester is an unbelivable franchise. I was at the championship game, I felt like I was at an NBA game at a fraction of the cost!! The PBL is very stable, and games get played, and the talent is amazing. Many players in that league can be on NBA rosters in my opinion. And its very nice that they play most, if not all of their games on the weekends!!
I think as long as they market correctly and advertise, something previous pro teams here didn't do, they can be successful. The Flickinger Center might not be jam packed every night, but I can see a good steady crowd. There is a ton of basketball fans in Buffalo, and as long as the team is winning, and tickets are cheap and people know about the team, they will go. The Silverbacks/Rapids had good teams and tickets were no more than $10 but they didn't advertise. As long as the Dragons do that, I think they'll be fine. Hell, they were already at the Buffalo Men's Show last weekend, a few days after the team was announced and had a booth and were giving away prizes, even shirts. This event drew a few thousand people.
All I know is, I can pay $10 to see pro basketball, with some top Chinese talent and top American talent at the Flickinger Center, I'm willing to go without a doubt. I don't mind seeing 5-6 asian players, playing with like 6-8 americans at all, actually I think its kind of neat. Give the Dragons a chance!
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