The NBA has announced that the Dallas Mavericks will play a pre-season game at Madrid’s WiZink Center on October 10 against reigning EuroLeague champion Real Madrid.
The game will be the NBA’s eighth in Madrid and the 20th in Spain overall. The Mavericks roster currently features four-time NBA All-Star Luka Dončić, who previously played for Real Madrid.
The most recent NBA game in Madrid took place in 2016, when Dončić’s Real Madrid hosted Oklahoma City Thunder. The league’s first games in the Spanish capital took place in 1988 as the Boston Celtics played against Real Madrid and the then Yugoslavian men’s national team.
Tickets for October’s game went on general sale today (Thursday). WiZink Center has a capacity of almost 18,000 and also serves as the home of Movistar Estudiantes.
NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum said: “Bringing the live NBA experience directly to our passionate international fans is an important part of our year-round efforts to grow basketball and the NBA around the world.
“We’re excited for the Mavericks to play Real Madrid and look forward to engaging with fans from Spain and across Europe around this historic match-up.”
The Mavericks will head to Madrid after playing two pre-season games against the Minnesota Timberwolves on October 5 and 7 at Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Arena.
WiZink Center recently opened a new 1,000-capacity concert venue, which features a 21-square metre LED screen and a 66-piece lighting equipment toolkit.
