One of the most interesting and apparent differences within the culture of the two leagues: merchandising and branding.  Naturally, with such universal clubs as FC Barcelona taking membership in the Euroleague, team branding is inevitable and welcomed.  However, unlike the NBA where jersey and apparel sales are monumental, merchandising is essentially nonexistent in the Euroleague culture.  It is extremely uncommon for a player to be popular enough for his jersey to be frequently purchased, even amongst fans actually attending games.  There are many factors combining for this (primarily one-year contracts make purchasing jerseys risky, for example) however the greatest input behind this difference is a cultural one.  Euroleague basketball clubs have no expectation of merchandising sales, and for this reason do not force the issue and place little emphasis on this revenue stream.  One can only imagine that as the Euroleague gains popularity and momentum through Europe, jersey sales will become slightly more common, but there will always be more Messi jerseys available in Barcelona than anything else, for example.

What other factors might lead to the lack of merchandising for Euroleague?  Do you think there are any significant cultural differences between United States commercialism and European commercialism?  Maybe the individualistic culture of the United States plays a role...

Any thoughts are much appreciated!

Noah