By Graham Hill
VILLA co-owner Wes Edens will be at the forefront of the NBA’s decision top to play a game in Paris for the first time next year.
Edens’ Milwaukee Bucks basketball team are taking on the Charlotte Hornets in the French capital on January 24.
Milwaukee co-owner Edens said. “We will be proud to represent Milwaukee and Wisconsin in Paris, and we thank the NBA for this exciting opportunity.”
It is another example of Edens’ ambition in sport – and a vision of what he could eventually do with Villa if they return to the Premier League.
Edens and Marc Lasry purchased the Bucks from Herb Kohl for $550 million in 2014, promising to keep the team in Wisconsin and build a new arena.
As of February 2018, the NBA franchise was valued at nearly double that amount, $1.075 billion.
The Bucks’ new venue is the Fiserv Forum – a groundbreaking multi-purpose arena.
Construction began on June 18, 2016 and took two years to build.
Shortly afterward, Edens and Nassef Sawiris agreed to buy into Villa after Tony Xia ran into financial problems following the club’s failure to win promotion last season.
So far, there have been no plans to redevelop Villa Park – and it is understood rumours of the club selling naming rights are a non-starter.
Villa Roar 