Chelsea FC to tie-up with NBA to bring facilities to India?

I'm not a fan of Chelsea Football Club. I'm a Real Madrid fan, and in England, my favourite team is Liverpool. So when I think Chelsea, I think Luis Garcia.

That out of the way, let me move on to more pressing (and relevant) matters. Business Standard (or 'BS', as they like to be acronymed), have released a bit of news today that announcing that Chelsea FC, the English Premier League champions, are looking for a partnership with an Indian corporate house to promote "football schools, merchandise, cafes, and restaurants" and India.

But that's not all, according to this report, Chelsea is also looking to tie-up with the NBA in India to work together to set up infrastructure.

“We are looking at an anchor partner which has to be an Indian corporate house, which understands the Indian market and not a foreign MNC. It is through this route that we plan to enter India and set up our football schools and franchise our brand,” said Ben Wells, head of marketing of the Chelsea Football Club.

Chelsea is also in talks with the US-based National Basketball Association (NBA) to jointly set up schools — having facilitates for both football and basketball. “There is no clash between these two and as NBA is already in India, we are open to talks with them to build the infrastructure” said Wells.

More good news for football and basketball fans in India... I can't wait till the day when I wake up, switch on a news channel, and I don't see a bunch of cricketers whining about bookies, 99-not-outs, and having to actually run a little from time to time.

Several NBA teams amongst the highest-paid sports teams in the world

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Seven of the top 12 highest-paid teams in sports around the world last year were from the National Basketball Association (NBA). The list is topped by baseball team New York Yankees of the MLB, worth $7,000,000, but they are the only baseball team represented in the top 12. Real Madrid (Spain), Barcelona (Spain), and Chelsea (England), all football teams, make up positions 2-4, and Dallas Mavericks of the NBA are at number five. 6-11 are also NBA teams, and a surprise inclusion at number 12 are the Bangalore Royal Challengers of the Indian Premier League (IPL)!
The list has been published by sportingintelligence, as part of their Annual Review of Global Sports Salaries (ARGSS). The list has been decided on the basis of the average salaries in the squad.

Here is the complete top 12 for 2010:
1. New York Yankees (MLB)
2. Real Madrid (La Liga)
3. Barcelona (La Liga)
4. Chelsea (EPL)
5. Dallas Mavericks (NBA)
6. Los Angeles Lakers (NBA)
7. Detroit Pistons (NBA)
8. Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA)
9. Boston Celtics (NBA)
10. New York Knicks (NBA)
11. Phoenix Suns (NBA)
12. Bangalore Royal Challengers (IPL)

You know what's funny? Check out the highest paid players in the NBA teams last year and you'll see that most of them are far from deserving of the honour. For the Mavericks its Jason Kidd, now in the twilight of his career. The Lakers and the Celtics get it right with Kobe and Garnett respectivelly. The Pistons paid the most money to Allen Iverson, who was a shadow of his former self and spent most of 2010 on the bench for the Grizzlies, and then signing and not playing for the 76ers.

How about the Suns at 12? They paid the most to Shaq, who is now out in Cleveland. And the Cavs themselves? You would think LeBron would be their highest paid, right? Nope - that honour goes to none other than Ben Wallace (now with the Pistons).
Undoubtedbly, the reward for the biggest waste of money goes to the Knicks, though, who are easily the worst team in this top 12 of all the leagues, and their highest paid player was Stephon Marbury, who has spent his 2010 streaming silly videos of himself and ballin in China.
And the Royal Challengers? Their highest paid player is none other than Kevin Pieterson, who if my knowledge of IPL is right barely gets to play for them.
So what's the moral of the story here? If you're good at basketball, you will be rich. Even if you're Stephon Marbury.
Indian parents - hand your child a basketball starting... NOW!

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