NBA appoints Yannick Colaco as MD, India

Colaco joins National Basketball Association (NBA) from Nimbus Sport where he was the chief operating officer.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) has got the ex-COO (Chief Operating Officer) of Nimbus Sport, Yannick Colaco, as the managing director of its India operations.

Based out of Mumbai, he will be responsible for managing the India office of the sports association and will oversee the entire league's business and basketball development in the country. Colaco will report to NBA president, International, Heidi Ueberroth.

Prior to taking up the new role, Colaco was associated with Nimbus Sports as its COO. He has been working with Nibus Sports since 2002 and in 2009 he was elevated to the post of COO. During his tenure with the media company he has handled various sports properties for the organisation. He has also worked with IMG, where he worked on a number of prominent event properties including India's first ATP Tour Event, Asian PGA Tour Events and the Indian Fashion Week.

In an official communiqué, Ueberroth says, "Colaco has the ideal combination of experience and knowledge of the sports landscape in India necessary to lead our expanding operations in the country."

Responsible for leading the growth of the NBA in India, Colaco will work on further strengthening the league's efforts to grow participation in basketball in partnership with the Basketball Federation of India (BFI).

An avid basketball player himself, having played basketball at the national university level, he will work with the league's media, marketing and merchandising partners to make the NBA more accessible to the sports lovers in the country. He will also play an active role in increasing NBA's social media presence here.

Talking about his new role, Colaco says, "The sports market in India is poised for significant growth and as basketball participation increases further there is a tremendous opportunity for the NBA. The league has a strong staff in Mumbai and I look forward to joining their efforts to carry out the NBA's mission to grow basketball in India."

Colaco holds a degree in B.A.in Economics from SP Chowgule College and is a native of Goa.

The global sports and media business, NBA, started its India operations in Mumbai in October 2011. The league has hosted more than 450 events in 10 cities across India since 2008. The NBA has marketing partnerships in India with adidas, Coca-Cola, Nike, Reebok and Spalding and it has recently entered into a television partnership with Multi Screen Media's Sony Six channel to provide comprehensive NBA programming and game coverage in the country.