EA Sports Sponsors European Basketball Tournament

EA Sports, the sport-related videogame imprint of Electronic Arts, announced that it will sponsor an NBA tournament to take place in Europe, against European basketball teams. The competition, officially called NBA Europe Live Presented by EA Sports, will involve four professional American teams pitted against the best teams Euroleague Basketball has to offer. The competition is currently scheduled to run for two years, with events in October 2006 and 2007 confirmed. Five countries will play host to the competition, which will include training camps hosted by the NBA teams and a final showdown between the top two NBA teams and the top two Euroleague teams. No countries or teams from either league have yet been named as participants in the competition.. "This is the NBA's most ambitious European basketball competition," said NBA Commissioner David Stern. "NBA Europe Live will exemplify how sports leagues around the world can work together for the long-term growth of their sport." The competitions will happen simultaneously with the release of new NBA Live games from EA Sports, to promote the games.