The NBA 2022-23 pre-season tour kicked off in Japan last September, and the two games between the Golden State Warriors and the Washington Wizards attracted a great deal of interest.

The matches attracted thousands to the Saitama Super Arena, and many paid top dollar to see their NBA idols in action, including Japanese star Rui Hachimura, who is into his fourth season at the Wizards. 

Japan is a country rooted in tradition, but in terms of the more youthful elements of society, the rise in many new markets, such as NBA and ポーカーゲーム(online casino), and in terms of the ongoing interest in the former, efforts are ongoing to expand the push to make NBA even more popular in the country.

Efforts to further develop the market will include more live action for fans to enjoy in their own backyards, with NBA Asia Managing Director Ramez Sheikh looking to build on the fanatical interest in the country by offering a closer connection to the league, stating the need to promote;

“Not just the NBA experience, the live NBA experience,”

“That’s what this (NBA Pre-Season In Japan) is all about,” 

“because half of the fandom in Japan especially is through events, through those experiences. And those experiences imprint and make a level of difference.” Sheikh added.

There is also a keen sense of a need to re-think the way live games are broadcast to the market, opening up to include more prominent alternatives as regards potential platforms; this was emphasized by Denver Nuggets fan Hiroaki Tanaka, who works in Tokyo and seemingly can’t get enough of the NBA saying it should be broadcast;

“not only on TV but also on YouTube and Tik Tok consistently.”

“People like me who are older than their 20s watch on TV, but younger ages won't watch shows on TV,” he said. “They watch on YouTube or Tik Tok or Instagram,” Tanaka commented.

The need to harness the popularity of the NBA with Japan’s youth is obvious, not least because they are a prized demographic for advertisers but also a group already very much invested in popular American culture. 

Warriors star Steph Curry commented on this need to make a connection with Japan’s youth as part of efforts to broaden the appeal of the NBA beyond the US borders;

“That’s what the game is about,” 

“Trying to build inspiration, confidence, fun for the next generation of kids that look up to us and love basketball, love sports.”

“Understanding what impact that can have on kids, who knows if they’re gonna pursue basketball at the highest level, but just the lesson that sports teaches you, the fact that basketball has brought such a diverse group together, and a global group together, that’s what it’s all about,”

The NBA has been broadcast in Japan for 34 years, and the popularity of the league continues to impress. However, it is worth noting that the country still lags behind the likes of China and the Philippines, where the game is truly massive, and this may well be the subject of any future targets the league looks to set in the country. 

Regular visitors of Notinhalloffame.com know that we are slowly working on the top 50 of every major team in the NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB.  Once that is done, we intend to look at how each team honor their past players, coaches and executives.  As such, it is important to us that Cam Ward has become the first person elected to the Carolina Hurricanes Hall of Fame.

Ward was a First Round Pick (25^th Overall) in 2002, and debuted for the Canes in 2005, playing for them until 2018.  Holding the all-time franchise record in Wins (318) and Shutouts (27), Ward has a Caroina record of 318-244-84 and a GAA of 2.70.  Ward backstopped Carolina to their first Stanley Cup in 2006, where he was named the Conn Smythe Award winner as the playoff MVP.

Ward joins Rob Brind’ Amour, Ron Francis and Glen Wesley, who were automatically chosen for the first class.  The ceremony will take place on February 16.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Cam Ward for earning this prestigious honor.

Since 1985, Canadians have been able to bet on sports, but now that they can bet on just one game, the industry is about to explode. Before August 27, 2021, the only legal ways to bet on sports in Canada were parlay wagering, which combines two or more separate bets into one, and pari-mutuel gambling. You can also only place these kinds of wagers through official lottery operations in your own province. 

One of the main reasons Canada legalized single-game betting was that the country didn't want to lose money from sports betting. Most provinces in Canada haven’t decided how to regulate legal sports betting until 2022. However, because sports wagering continues to increase in popularity in Canada, many provinces decided to fasten their regulation towards sports betting. Today, those bettors who want to find the best online casinos for betting can check Realcasinoscanada website in order to get the most out of their gambling process, find the right casino and make their wagering more unforgettable. It should be stated that today only Ontario and Alberta have made straightforward moves to make operators from outside the country feel welcome. 

One good thing is that Canadian gamblers no longer have to make parlay wagers that are too complicated. Now, it's up to each state or territory to make legalized sports betting Canada appealing enough to keep people from wagering on illegal offshore sites. In this article, we’ll tell you how to bet on sports in Canada.

How does sports betting work in Canada in casinos?

When the Canadian government passed bill C-218 in August 2021, it made it possible for people all over the country to bet on single games. It did not, however, make sports betting legal right away everywhere in the US. Most states and provinces moved quickly to make single-game sports wagering legal and to set rules for it. 

So far, Ontario has been the most forward-thinking province. Single-game sports wagering was legalized there in April 2022, and a number of overseas bookies and casinos are already in business. Because of this, similar laws are being passed in other countries. As a result of the increasing popularity of online betting and gambling, the competition among casinos and sportsbooks has increased significantly. The best websites try to get more players with different bonuses and special offers. For example, today Canadians can visit 888 casino, get 88 free spins for slots and place sports bets. You might be wondering why the term "single-game wagering" is used when talking about legal sports betting in Canada. This is because Canadians have been able to bet on parlays for a long time.

In the past few years, billions of dollars have left Canada and gone to "offshore sites," which are online bookies based in other countries. Because the laws were out of date, it was impossible to stop Canadians from using these sites to wager, so it was generally okay for them to do so. 

What should sports bettors consider?

Just like you wouldn't buy a car without looking around, you shouldn't bet on sports without doing your homework first. Some expert gamblers think that this process, which is also called "line shopping," is the key to their success, so they don't give it enough credit. When you lose, you lose less money if you pay less vig.

Set aside money and choose a "unit size." Use this to make sure that your game plan is all the same. We recommend spending between 1% and 2% of your money on each play. You can let variance happen without risking ruining your finances by wagering this amount over and over again. Even smart bettors who win at least 55% of the time would lose everything if they put 10% of their bankroll on each bet.

Keep your self-control at all costs. It's hard to believe, but just because a game is being shown on TV doesn't mean you have to wager on it. When compared to midday games, when a lot of different things are going on at the same time, "island games" bring in a lot more money for sportsbooks. People who gambled for fun would wager on anything to get a good sweat. Bets are only made by professionals and people who want to make the most money over the long term.

For decades, we've seen paintings and other renowned works of art sell for tens and even hundreds of millions of dollars. But in recent years, another type of collectible has been breaking records for sales prices. In 2022, agame-worn Michael Jordan jersey broke the $10 million dollar mark in an auction, a testament to the incredible value of high-end sports memorabilia. But what makes sports memorabilia so valuable?

A Massive Fan Base

One of the major factors driving the value of any collectible is the pool of people who might potentially want it. And when it comes to high-level sports, that group of potential buyers is huge.

In the United States, a rabid fan base of tens of millions of people follows the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL, as well as college football and basketball. Worldwide, the sport of football (or soccer) attracts an audience of billions for the top leagues and international tournaments like the World Cup.

Any of these people are potentially a market for sports memorabilia.

Tremendous Passion and Emotional Connection

It's not just the size of the fan bases for sports that makes sports memorabilia so valuable. Even more important is the centrality of sporting competitions in the lives of so many of the fans.

Hundreds of millions of people around the world live and breathe their favorite sports and live or die with the fortunes of their favorite teams and players. And that emotional connection means that sports memorabilia is often extremely valuable to those fans.

It's no exaggeration to say that spectating sports is the primary leisure activity for a significant portion of the adult population of quite a few countries, including the United States. Many of these fans spend multiple hours a week watching games and pre/post-game analysis, and spend a significant chunk of their disposable income on their hobby.

Entire cities throw impromptu parties when the local team triumphs, and sink into despair after a crushing defeat. And all this passion means that sports create lasting memories in the fans who follow them.

Sports memorabilia is a conduit for that passion and emotional connection. Frequently, it evokes the memory of a touchstone within the lives of the fans. A set of rookie cards or BYU nft football cards can represent a favorite player of all time. A jersey can bring to mind the greatest game a fan has ever watched.

Rarity

Finally, sports memorabilia's skyrocketing prices come from the scarcity of some of the particularly sought-after items. As with any commodity, the price rises when demand is much greater than supply. As has already been covered, the demand for sports memorabilia is tremendous. The second part of the equation is that supply is limited.

There might be a billion Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, or Michael Jordan fans in the world. But how many authenticated game-worn jerseys exist? Hundreds, at best. Consequently, you'd have a million people for every piece of memorabilia, and prices reflect that.

Scarcity is an even greater factor for older sports memorabilia. In the modern age, we're aware of the value of memorabilia, and so we save more of it. But decades ago, most sports memorabilia was simply discarded.

For example, one of the most valuable baseball cards ever is aparticular Honus Wagner card, which sold for more than $7 million. Wagner was a great player, but not the best by any stretch. So, what makes his card so valuable? Very few cards were issued, and most were destroyed or lost over the years.

Sports memorabilia is often incredibly specific to the great achievements of an athlete or team. And for people who treasure those achievements, that memorabilia is literally one of a kind.

If your favorite NFL player is Tom Brady, how much would you pay for the football he used to throw the last of his eventual roughly 700 touchdown passes? There's a Tom Brady fan out there who'd pay millions for it.

Bottom Line

Sports memorabilia draws its value from the intersection of a vast worldwide fan base, tremendous passion and lifelong memories, and the uniqueness and rarity of prized items. It may seem strange to think about a ball or a cardboard image fetching millions of dollars. But what those objects represent is a way of life, dreams, the pinnacle of achievement, and a status symbol all in one.