14 DAY TRIAL // So, what's the going rate to rent out a royal so that he comes round to your house for a couple of hours? These days, a flat one million dollars (about €800,000) will ensure that the royals show up to your door and glam up your party.
The Daily Mail reports that Prince William and Kate Middleton agreed to visit the United States next month and also go on a basketball game in Brooklyn between the Nets and the Cavaliers. It's going to be a historical event because no British royal has ever attended an American baskteball game, but it appears that the only reason the couple is doing this is that the NBA bosses shelled out some serious cash.
NBA bosses were happy to pay the money in order to get the royal couple to attend, lots of publicity for them
The report claims that the bosses made a $1 million (€800,000) donation to Prince William and Kate Middleton's charity, saying thank you for the couple agreeing to attend the basketball game. During their visit, they also agreed to meet up with basketball “royalty,” LeBron James, widely regarded as America's most famous athlete.
The reason for this publicity stunt is simple: NBA needs to pull in new fans and it hopes to achieve this by airing footage with the Prince and Kate at the game. They believe that many young people from Europe will be watching and then falling in love with the sport. It's all about new markets, it seems.
“It’s an incredible publicity coup for the NBA,” exclaims one insider, adding enthusiastically that “The images of them all together will be seen all over the world – it’s a marketing man’s dream. A million bucks is a small price to pay for the publicity the NBA’s going to get.”
The general feel is that the NBA is going to make a lot more money if it manages to draw in fans who will alter spend money on merchandise and tickets.
Will and Kate specifically wanted to see LeBron play
Rumors say that the royal couple initially wanted to see a game at the famous Madison Square Garden but opted to go the following night just to see LeBron play the following night.
The insider reveals that “Kate and William are both big sports fans. And although basketball isn’t big in Britain, William has heard of LeBron James… although Kate apparently had no idea who he was!”
The locals are said to bring their own version of royalty, as Beyonce and Jay Z are rumored to be also attending the game on that night, since they are both avid Nets fans. The word is that the organizers have taken precautions with the royal couple.
Usually, celebrities sit court side at basketball games, but the pregnant Kate Middleton will be sat in a private box, high above the field so that no player bumps into her by accident and causes an international conflict. “I don’t think anybody likes the idea of Kate being in the front row and a huge, great basketball player crashing into her – especially in her condition,” said the same source.
Update: Sources confirm that no donation has been made to The Royal Foundation, the charity belonging to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as compensation for their appearance at the basketball game, nor is one expected.
