• Home
  • FIBA
  • EuroLeague
  • NBA/NCAA
  • National Leagues
  • Podcast
  • Features
  • More
  • Contact

Grimag

  • FIBA
  • EuroLeague
  • NBA/NCAA
  • National Leagues
  • Podcast
  • Features
  • More

"Mavs' Nowitzki popular in native Germany despite his sport"

October 30, 2007

This was the headline in an article published by the seattletimes on Sunday. Normally it is not our style to criticizes journalists – they are all doing a good job, but this has to be corrected. First of all I don’t understand why a newspaper in Seattle talks about a German guy from Dallas at all. I mean Detlef Schrempf’s time in Seattle is well over (as a player)!

To me this article sounds a little bit like a story that was written without actually being in Germany or knowing the important facts to write an article like that.

Although he’s the NBA’s returning most valuable player, the Dallas Mavericks’ 7-foot forward remains a story Germans don’t really understand.

So what is not to understand about a guy that plays Basketball in the United States? Germans do play basketball and Germans also know where the United States are. Considering that not one GM gave Dirk a vote to defend his MVP title he isn’t that big of a deal anymore anyways, right?

“To understand Nowitzki’s profile here, you have to understand that he is probably the single most popular athlete still active in Germany, but that very few people see him play,” said Marcus Nick, the editor of Basket Magazine, Germany’s most popular basketball publication. “Nowitzki is basketball in Germany, but the three most popular sports are soccer, soccer and soccer.”

“the single most popular athlete” that “Germans don’t really understand”? That doesn’t make sense to me at all. First of all soccer is the most popular sport in Germany, why isn’t a soccer player like Michael Ballack the single most popular athlete then?

The Mavericks and the NBA are barely an afterthought on the German sports scene, featured on the satellite Premiere system, which has an estimated 4.5 million subscribers (for movies, sports, news and children’s programming), in this nation of 82 million.

A Premiere spokesman said the company doesn’t disclose viewer numbers but said that it’s happy with NBA viewership. NBA games often are broadcasted in the early hours of the morning (7:30 p.m. in Dallas is 1:30 a.m. in Berlin). When those games are on, they feature Dallas more often than not.

First of all the time difference between Dallas and Germany is not 6 hours – unless Dallas moved to the East coast. I also think it should be clear that Premiere is PAY TV and not free. So you can compare it to comcast or something like that. So if you want to watch a NBA game you have to get up at 2:30 in the morning and pay for the extra service. I also checked for viewer numbers – which are published in Premiere’s media data as allesaussersport tells us. He points out that about 7,500! viewers follow the LIVE games on Premiere in average.

Do you think that 0.2% percent of the Premiere subscribers is a reason to be happy?

Well at least the author of the article did not call him “Nowintzki” – as I heard some Americans say Dirk’s name before..

Oct 30, 2007ballineurope
Powered by Sidelines
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
This post was published on October 30, 2007
FIBA Euro Cup about to startOne thing you didn't know about Marco Belinelli
Comments: 2
  1. Schmiddi
    17 years ago

    😀
    Great!!!
    I read this article on insidehoops.com and I thought of it being really stupid and I thought at exactly the same spots the same thing!
    And man! I’m from Germany!! Nowitzki is famous here! But to be faire… Not too many know that he was voted MVP!
    But everyone knows about the first round upset against the Warriors. lol.

    ReplyCancel
  2. Greets from Germany
    17 years ago

    Good view by you. Nowitzki is a famous sportsmen in germany and we are proud he was the MVP of regular season. But we are also proud, if a german win discus throwing. It’s not so very importing. Our three most popular sports arent soccer but football, like the the was called in 96 percent of the world.

    ReplyCancel
Pingbacks: 2
  1. » It’s game time! | HoopNation - Der Basketball Blog
    17 years ago
  2. This is not a sport for pussies
    17 years ago

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

ballineurope
17 years ago 4 Comments Features, FIBA, More, NBA/NCAA
Recent Posts
A Panathinaikos vs Olympiacos clash at the Euroleague Final Four isn’t guaranteed—but if it happens, it could be the rivalry’s most epic chapter yet.
Olympiacos vs Panathinaikos? Euroleague’s Dream Derby Looms
20 hours ago
Why Euroleague moved the 2025 Final Four to Abu Dhabi — chasing growth, facing backlash, and testing loyalty with its bold new strategy.
Euroleague Final Four 2025: Why It’s in Abu Dhabi
1 day ago
The Euroleague Final Four isn’t just about players. Meet the coaches shaping 2025: Ergin Ataman, Georgios Bartzokas, Sarunas Jasikevicius, and Vassilis Spanoulis.
The Coaches Defining the 2025 Euroleague Final Four
2 days ago
Categories
Recent Posts
Olympiacos vs Panathinaikos? Euroleague’s Dream Derby Looms
Euroleague Final Four 2025: Why It’s in Abu Dhabi
The Coaches Defining the 2025 Euroleague Final Four
Tags
EuroLeagueNBAYouTubeReal MadridCSKA MoscowFC BarcelonaFIBAOlympiacosPanathinaikosZalgiris KaunasACBSpainMaccabi Tel AvivRicky RubioTeam SpainLos Angeles LakersMontepaschi SienaPartizan BelgradeLithuaniaIrelandGermanyPau GasolItalyTeam LithuaniaTurkeyTeam FranceCaja Laboral BaskoniaLietuvos RytasFenerbahce ÜlkerGreeceJuan Carlos NavarroSerbiaSan Antonio SpursTony ParkerMinnesota TimberwolvesFranceDirk Nowitzkibasketball highlightsEuroleagueTeam RussiaALBA BerlinEuroCupDallas MavericksTeam USAEuroBasket 2011
Share
0
Facebook
ABOUT
BallinEurope.com was founded in September 2007 by Christophe Ney (who now runs the excellent scouting-themed website European Prospects) and Tobias Seitz, both then bloggers for FIBA.com with over 10 years’ worth of experience in the professional basketball world each. The mission then was to “provide a very unique perspective of Basketball in and about Europe.”
Most Commented
Why Andrei Kirilenko and CSKA Moscow must win the Euroleague
13 years ago
180 Comments
Euroleague Transfers Table 2008/2009
17 years ago
168 Comments
A week in highlights: Spanish block party, mighty Milos, Utah rap and some dude dunking in L.A.
14 years ago
139 Comments
Archives
Get In Touch

Email: emmetryan@gmail.com

Name: Emmet Ryan

2014 © BallinEurope. Join JCI Dublin