NBA Europe plans scaled back on credit crisis

By Michael Szabo

LONDON (Reuters) - The NBA has been weathering the global financial crisis by cutting the number of pre-season games in Europe this year, Commissioner David Stern told reporters on Friday.

"We anticipated the economic slowdown so we tried to limit our exposure while at the same time accomplishing our goals," Stern said. "To us, four countries is a good thing and we were probably trying to do too much in past years."

This year the league is playing only four games in four European cities, down from seven in six cities in 2007.

The New Jersey Nets beat the Miami Heat 100-98 in overtime on Thursday at Bercy Arena in Paris, and will meet again on Sunday night at London's O2 Arena.

The Washington Wizards will take on the New Orleans Hornets in Berlin on October 14, and again in Barcelona on October 17.

Stern said the financial meltdown will eventually affect all professional sports, including the NBA.

"I think there will be a negative impact of some kind, but we haven't seen it yet," he added.

However, weakness in the U.S. economy is being blamed for lower season-ticket sales ahead of the league's 63rd regular season starting this month, Adam Silver, NBA deputy commissioner, told Reuters last week.

The NBA has already begun searching for cost savings, revisiting operational budgets set as recently as August.

Stern said the league's loan limits and salary caps will "work well to limit the exposure" of individual teams.

There are plans to return to Europe next year but Stern said the NBA was not looking to play regular season games here.

"It's nice to talk about but logistically it's not a practical idea, at least at the current time," he said.

(Additional reporting by Ben Klayman; Editing by Ken Ferris)