the jellyfish raft, Liberty Leading the People and the Venus of Milo may shine in their own way, it is not so. Ask anyone, and especially an American, what work comes to mind when the Louvre Museum is mentioned, the answer will always be the same: Mona Lisa. Well, it’s pretty much the same with the French basketball championship. Forget Nando De Colo (Asvel), Mike James (Monaco) or Juhann Begarin (Paris), everyone only has eyes for Victor Wembanyama. And not only because the boy, from the top of his 2.21 m, is visible 30 km around.
Announced n ° 1 of the next NBA draft, the player of the Metropolitans of Boulogne-Levallois, whom he joined this summer after a short year spent at Asvel, whom he finds this Monday evening, is the player to see absolutely before he takes off definitively for the United States next season. More anticipated than the latest iPhone, more popular than the aging Paul McCartney, more talented than the majority of his peers, Victor Wembanyama can hardly walk three meters without being challenged.
Las Vegas changed everything
“It’s historic for the past twenty years, because it’s historic that a French player has been announced as the No. 1 in the Draft so far in advance and that he’s already a star in France,” says Fabrice Jouhaud, director General of the National Basketball League. There was a French basketball-wide plan, but the Mets’ Las Vegas tour [en octobre] completely changed the perspective for everyone. And upset a whole championship.
In the city of sin, facing a selection of young prospects and veterans, the 19-year-old Frenchman confirmed all the good people thought of him for his first steps in the United States in front of some 200 representatives from the 30 NBA franchises who came scrutinize it. And launched this surge of madness that now surrounds him on each outing. On his return from America, for the first time, the Marcel-Cerdan room (2,800 seats), where the Mets play, was sold out. And, since then, tickets for matches have sold out in a few minutes, the Ile-de-France club tells us.
Thousands of requests to come and see Wembanyama
In Nancy, who faced Boulogne-Levallois on November 26, the places left in less than half an hour. “The expectation around this match surprised us, especially among the youngest, explains Quentin Lozzia, communication manager at SLUC Nancy. We had 15-25 year olds that we had never seen. We are a room with 6,000 seats (with 4,000 subscribers) and we estimate that we had a request for 20,000 seats. Seats for resale left in a minute and a half. “Same thing in Strasbourg, where the walls of Rhénus and its 8,000 places could have been pushed back several meters.
And of course, when there is a star who comes to the house, everyone wants to be there. “We had people who didn’t have tickets calling us saying they had a blog or an Instagram page and were asking for media accreditation,” says Franklin Tellier, head of sports operations at SIG. This is the meeting for which we have the most requests. »
We had two or three fairly well-known guys who wanted to come, like rappers, adds Quentin Lozzia. A guy asked that we create places especially for him on the edge of the pitch. He was ready to put down €500 instead, and wanted four. We have a player of ours who bought tickets at the price of gold. We also have two or three politicians who asked us if we could give places to their nephew. We did not give any gifts.”
Lionel Jospin and Michael Douglas as guests
In Boulogne-Levallois, the stars have also decided to show themselves, like Mister V or Lionel Jospin, who came to watch Victor Wembanyama’s first match after Las Vegas. Marcel-Cerdan’s audience was also surprised to see Michael Douglas on the pitch. “It was he himself who contacted the club’s ticketing service to get a place,” we are assured at the club. And, in the rooms, the spectators swear by him.
“When he arrived, there were 300 people behind the basket watching him, whereas usually, there is no one an hour and a half before the match, continues the Nancy. On his first ball, he makes a huge step back, the room rises. And when he leaves, he gets a standing ovation. There was something going on in the room, it was quite mystical. I had lived the period when Batum was in our team, but there, it has nothing to do. It’s multiplied by 200.
A leverage effect for the French championship
This Wembanyama effect, the LNB intends to surf on it. “It also allows to show those who were not necessarily interested in French basketball, that alongside him, there are very good teams and very good players, comments Fabrice Jouhaud. We try to get into the wheel as much as possible. We attract a new audience, younger, often NBA fans, who have a lack of knowledge, even a form of contempt or condescension vis-à-vis the French championship. Our goal is that they think it’s really good. »
The OTT platform which broadcasts the championship matches, on the LNB site, has seen its audiences climb, even outside of Mets matches. “Between 7 and 11,000 additional people per match”, details the DG. People are also starting to watch the qualifying matches of the Blues thanks to the presence of the French giant. “Since his visit, we had to convert 300 people who continue to come to see our matches,” says Quentin Lozzia. The others were the TikTok effect, the Las Vegas effect, the “I want to see him before he leaves” effect. »
“The French championship has a value”
On social networks, precisely, the “product” Wembanyama is widely highlighted, in particular by the NBA, which employs a photographer / videographer to produce content edge field focused on Wemby on match days. “They also sometimes send a journalist to the match or to training for additional content or inside reporting”, according to Fabrice Jouhaud. The French championship has also become the first championship not affiliated with the NBA to be broadcast live on the NBA App. If all Betclic Elite matches are eligible, at the rate of one match per day, the Americans have for the moment chosen only to broadcast Mets matches.
This is a very important promotion for us, for the players, for the clubs, rejoices the leader of the LNB. It shows that the French championship has a value. We see at the level of the League, for two months, four new partners while it has been years since we had any new ones. These are multi-year contracts. They are not getting involved just because they will be able to broadcast images of Victor. »
At the marketing level, Victor Wembanyama carries, here too, everything in his path. “With us, 90% of the jerseys sold are flocked in the name of Wembanyama”, we are assured on the side of Boulogne Levallois. And, even in Nancy, we hoped to surf on the long arms of the Frenchie. “People have even asked us if, we at SLUC, we could sell Wembanyama jerseys, still surprised Quentin Lozzia Brands have also asked me if we could make partnerships with Victor. So that’s excess.