Basketball Hobby Growing as Game Goes International

Basketball has reached a new level of popularity and excellence, with the emergence of the new era of superstars and the collecting basketball hobby has too.

With fresh stars like LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Deron Williams, Carmelo Anthony, and Dwight Howard, it's got a new level of excitement among fans and collectors of basketball autographs.

With the rising popularity in an increasingly digital age, where games can be watched anywhere on a laptop or even a mobile phone, the reach of the sport is seeping across international borders Fans who have been watching the game for years have witnessed breakout performances from international stars beginning to make a serious name for themselves. With the new caliber of overseas talent and international fans naturally comes a new market for the basketball hobby of hunting for autographs and signed memorabilia.

These international players have brought the love of the game to their native lands. The entire country of Turkey roots for the Utah Jazz because of Mehmet Okur and Irsan Ilyasova while Argentina sings the praises of its hometown hero, Manu Ginobli of the San Antonio Spurs.

Basketball courts fill with kids and adults alike as they imagine playing alongside their hardwood heroes. With this new level of devotion to their NBA players, comes the hunt for player and team memorabilia, especially autographs.

The basketball hobby is relatively new to other countries and incredibly difficult, with virtually all NBA games are played in America. However, foreign born players always return to their hometowns in the off season or for international competitions and oblige their fans with promotional signing events as well as most autograph requests on the street.

Another simple, and easy, way for international fans to find their favorite player's autograph is off eBay or any number of collector sites selling signed NBA memorabilia.

Recently the NBA has begun playing preseason exhibition games overseas featuring NBA franchises as well as hometown professional teams. In 2007, China played host to a set of three games featuring the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Orlando Magic, and the China Men's National Team. Along with any of these types of exhibition events will naturally come promotional events in which international basketball enthusiasts will get a chance to meet NBA players and receive NBA player autographs and signed memorabilia.

It's all part of the NBA's effort to expand overseas and tap into a new market for the sport, and the market has certainly demanded it. In 2009, 25-27% of all licensed NBA merchandise purchased has been from overseas, implying that the basketball hobby of autograph hunting is only growing internationally. Fans of international players can also seek signed items here at Hoops Collector by checking out the links to signed items on eBay.