NBA Game Promises to Be a Turkey? Call In the Turks - or the Filipinos

It's that time of year in the NBA: the deep winter slog when teams with losing records search far and wide for gimmicks to fill seats. That's why many teams are drumming up "Heritage" events, meant to court even the smallest émigré enclaves to NBA courts, and provide just a tad of buzz—and a souvenir trinket or two—to pump up attendance.

The Toronto Raptors have Filipino Night set for early next month, arriving on the heels of Serbian, Jewish and Chinese nights in January.

The Minnesota Timberwolves are hosting both an Israeli Heritage and a Jewish Heritage event, with a Canadian Heritage Night teed up for late January and a German Heritage night for March.

The Golden State Warriors' Latino Night is on Jan. 28, after the team held events saluting fans from Iran and China.

Heritage events became popular in the U.S. about a decade ago, when the NBA began signing more talent from overseas. Currently, there are 86 foreign-born players in the NBA.

Pitching ethnicity is an easy win for clubs that don't typically draw big crowds. With 41 games on a team's home schedule, most won't sell out. Weak opposing teams can further dash hopes for a strong turnout. But by focusing on visiting ethnic players, heritage events can generate interest, raising the odds of higher ticket sales. With the right plans—such as special foods and autograph signings with the star player—some teams say they can fill as many as 2,000 additional seats.

But heritage events can be tricky. Many NBA rosters aren't intact long enough to justify an ethnic night based on a particular athlete—thus, for example, creating Turkish events without a Turkish player.

-Alexis Dittmer

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