“This Fits With What the League Requires”

From 2026 to 2028 the NBA will host six regular season games in arenas in Europe. The four involved venues boast a mix of newcomers, established partners and returning venues. Looking towards the ongoing discussions around a potential NBA Europe league, this might very well be a dress rehearsal for potential involvement is such a venture. stadiaworld asked the four venues what they expect from the games and how they see their role. For Accor Arena in Paris: Arnaud Millard, Director of Programming & Ticketing at Paris Entertainment Company and Deputy Managing Director of Le Bataclan.

Arnaud Millard
Arnaud Millard Image: Paris Entertainment Company / Matthis Van Der Meulen
stadiaworld: Accor Arena will once again host an NBA regular season game in 2027. How do you cooperate with the league for such a game? Do you need to upgrade or improve anything before then?
Millard: We have hosted NBA regular season games since 2020, so we do have a quite long-term relationship with the league. We built a base for this first event, so we know how to fit the arena regarding’s the NBA specs every year.

During the 2024 Olympics we also moved a lot the building, with significative improvements such as a brand new jumbotron and refreshing system. This fits with what the league tends to require.