The Orlando Magic will play their first regular season game on German soil in Berlin in January 2026. This is not only because the Magic have three German players in their squad, but is also part of a far-reaching strategy.
History will be made in Germany on January 15, 2026. For the first time ever, an NBA regular season game will be played on German soil when the Orlando Magic take on the Memphis Grizzlies in Berlin. Rumors have been circulating all year, and ultimately it’s just a logical step.
On the one hand, three Germans play for the Magic: the Wagner brothers and Tristan da Silva. On the other hand, the Magic have acquired exclusive marketing rights for Germany. Since 2019, NBA teams have been able to market themselves abroad, and the Magic chose Germany, among other countries.
“Many teams wanted to gain a foothold in China right away because it’s a huge market. But we didn’t see any connection,“ explains sales director Michael Forde in an interview with basketball-world.news. ”We don’t have any Chinese players, there’s no community here, and there are no direct flights. So we did a study and looked at where we are a top-5 team in terms of marketing. It was Puerto Rico, Brazil, and Germany.”
Orlando Magic: Germany’s new team?
The studies were conducted at a time when Orlando signed Moritz Wagner, who was unemployed at the time, and drafted his brother Franz with the eighth pick a few months later. Since then, the franchise has been trying to gain a foothold in Germany. There is a German-language social media presence, a watch party was held in Munich last December, and in July, several Magic employees toured Germany with former player Ryan Anderson to hold some training sessions for children.
This is coordinated by Markus Höfl’s company, who once served as an advisor to Franz Beckenbauer and now counts Dennis Schröder among his clients. In addition, a partnership with Deutsche Telekom was announced and another event was held in Munich, which was attended by Franz Wagner himself, among others. “We are the most-watched team in Germany on League Pass, overtaking the Dallas Mavericks. What’s more, no jersey sells better than Franz Wagner’s,” says Forde of the initial successes in Germany.
It’s working at the moment, of course because of the three German players. But what if (purely hypothetically) Franz Wagner is traded? “We hope that German fans will get to know the Orlando Magic because of Franz and then remain Magic fans. You start with your favorite player, but then you fall in love with the team,” Forde is certain.
Da Silva unites two worlds
Hedo Türkoglu, who wore the Magic jersey between 2010 and 2014, is a good example. According to Forde, Turkey is still one of the Magic’s biggest markets abroad, and the situation is similar in Montenegro thanks to Nikola Vucevic.
Da Silva even combines the best of both worlds as a German-Brazilian, but according to Forde, the forward was drafted purely for sporting reasons. The fact that the 24-year-old is relevant to two important markets for the Magic is a nice side effect.
This is important for Orlando, as the local market is not particularly sports-mad and the city is very dependent on tourism. Accordingly, the Magic would like to play more often on European prime time at the weekend, but have no say in the matter. The NBA dictates the schedule, and early tip-off times are usually difficult to implement due to the teams’ extensive travel commitments.
The game in Berlin is likely to have a greater impact in generating even more interest in Germany. And it doesn’t have to be the Magic’s last appearance. In 2028, there will be another game at the Uber Arena at Ostbahnhof – possibly with the Orlando Magic participating again.