<p>United States’ National Basketball Association (NBA) is planning to establish a professional league in India, it has been learnt.<br /><br /></p>.<p>NBA Commissioner David Stern has held talks with executives at IMG Worldwide Inc on the matter, according to reliable sources.<br /><br />IMG, the New York-based sports-management agency, and Reliance Industries Ltd had formed IMG Reliance in 2010 to develop sports and entertainment in India.<br /><br />The company has already signed a 30-year contract with the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) that allows for the floating of a professional league. Stern wants to build the NBA brand, as well as the audience for basketball and its ancillary merchandise, outside of North America, the sources said.<br />Logical outposts are China, where the league has a separate entity to conduct business.<br /><br />NBA has conducted grassroots events across India for the past two years, and this season there are six games a week shown live on television in the country.<br /><br />The league also has a strategic partnership with the Mahindra Group, which backs a community based basketball league.<br /><br />IMG operates a training academy in Florida where 29 Indian student-athletes participated in September 2011 in the joint venture’s inaugural scholarship programme for tennis, basketball and soccer.<br /><br />Among them was 7-foot Punjab teenager Satnam Singh Bhamara, who ESPN magazine says in its January 9 issue, could be India’s version of China’s Yao Ming.</p>
<p>United States’ National Basketball Association (NBA) is planning to establish a professional league in India, it has been learnt.<br /><br /></p>.<p>NBA Commissioner David Stern has held talks with executives at IMG Worldwide Inc on the matter, according to reliable sources.<br /><br />IMG, the New York-based sports-management agency, and Reliance Industries Ltd had formed IMG Reliance in 2010 to develop sports and entertainment in India.<br /><br />The company has already signed a 30-year contract with the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) that allows for the floating of a professional league. Stern wants to build the NBA brand, as well as the audience for basketball and its ancillary merchandise, outside of North America, the sources said.<br />Logical outposts are China, where the league has a separate entity to conduct business.<br /><br />NBA has conducted grassroots events across India for the past two years, and this season there are six games a week shown live on television in the country.<br /><br />The league also has a strategic partnership with the Mahindra Group, which backs a community based basketball league.<br /><br />IMG operates a training academy in Florida where 29 Indian student-athletes participated in September 2011 in the joint venture’s inaugural scholarship programme for tennis, basketball and soccer.<br /><br />Among them was 7-foot Punjab teenager Satnam Singh Bhamara, who ESPN magazine says in its January 9 issue, could be India’s version of China’s Yao Ming.</p>