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These sponsors will be activating with the Magic throughout Global Games week. Orlando Magic <\/p>\nThe distance from Orlando to Berlin is 4,900 miles, the equivalent of 1.09 million NBA 3-point lines.<\/p>\n
So how did the German capital \u2014 six time zones away \u2014 become the Magic\u2019s home away from home? It\u2019s all about Shaq and Penny, Mickey Mouse, analytics, travel agents, two brothers and a tug on Commissioner Adam Silver\u2019s sleeve.<\/p>\n
This week, as part of the NBA Global Games 2026, the Magic will play the Grizzlies at a sold-out Uber Arena that will make Moe and Franz Wagner weep. The brothers were raised 10 minutes away, in the greater Berlin area, idolizing that gym, wearing their KG and LeBron jerseys and setting their alarm clocks for 3 a.m. to watch faraway NBA games.<\/p>\n
Now they are back with Germany\u2019s Team \u2014 the Magic \u2014 wondering if they have enough tickets for their family, friends and hangers-on (\u201cNorth of 150,\u201d Moe said) and curious how a team from Central Florida has somehow become Deutsch rock stars.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I mean, the game sold out in a matter of seconds,\u201d Moe Wagner said. \u201cSo for us, yeah, it\u2019s going to be insane. It means everything to us. I can\u2019t even think about it because I get emotional. That\u2019s my stomping grounds.\u201d<\/p>\n
How Berlin also became Magic stomping grounds is an education in tourism, NBA reach, front office ingenuity and how far a franchise will go for corporate sponsorships. The end result, this week in Berlin, is a pop-up entertainment district titled Magic Kiez \u2014 the German word for neighborhood or gathering place. But the genesis was the Magic\u2019s supreme 1990s duo of Shaq and Penny.<\/p>\n
Circa the 1994-95 season, Michael Jordan was just returning from baseball, and the Magic were on network TV 21 times \u2014 second only to the Bulls. Shaquille O\u2019Neal was a global phenomenon, tearing down rims with a cheesy grin, and his sidekick Anfernee Hardaway was a poor man\u2019s Magic Johnson. <\/p>\n
\u201cNext to Michael Jordan and the Bulls building a global fan base, the Magic were the other team that were really uniquely positioned to build a lot of international fans,\u201d said Jeff Nelson, president of Navigate, a sports and entertainment consultancy firm that ended up contributing to the current-day Magic rise. \u201cPeople just kind of assume, well, the Knicks or Lakers \u2014 the biggest markets \u2014 have the best global followings. Well, Orlando is right up there because they had the right team at the right time in the right place.”<\/p>\n
That place was Disney World, the epicenter of the city and on the bucket list of families from here to Timbuktu. Around 2005 \u2014 with close to 75 million tourists arriving in Orlando annually \u2014 the Magic decided to hitch a ride on Mickey Mouse\u2019s back. Charlie Freeman, Magic president of business operations, now in his 28th season, said the team sent intermediaries to the core markets of Europe, Brazil and Mexico City, urging travel agents to make a Magic basketball game part of a Disney vacation. \u201cThis international focus that has been sort of in our DNA for the last 20 years,” he said.<\/p>\n
The franchise also moseyed over to Silver and the league office, volunteering to play in as many international games as feasible, preseason or regular season. London, Brazil, Japan, China, Mexico City \u2014 the Magic jetted everywhere. But in the summer of \u201923, when the league allowed teams to pursue as many 10 global sponsors through the International Team Marketing Plan, Freeman said the Magic hired Nelson and Navigate to research the most sensible foreign options. <\/p>\n
Nelson said Navigate analyzed 47 countries, covering more than 90% of the world\u2019s gross domestic product, looking at demographics, economics, media maturity (such as broadband capability, mobile subscriptions, internet penetration), commercialism and, simply put, whether they\u2019d even heard of the Orlando Magic. Due to Shaq and Disney World, a lot already had. <\/p>\n
Finally, using a total of 52 metrics, Navigate handed the Magic a list of countries to consider, and, to the team\u2019s glee, Germany was No. 6, with 8.45 million people who follow or are intrigued by the NBA \u2014 largely because of their precious legende Dirk Nowitzki and, well, the Wagner brothers.<\/p>\n
The team decided to focus on the U.K., Brazil, Mexico and Puerto Rico (which has a large faction living in Orlando), with Germany as the unquestioned focal point. In addition to the Wagners, the team had Tristan da Silva, whose mother is German and father Brazilian \u2014 a fortuitous marketing hybrid. On Dec. 29, 2024, on a day the Magic were playing at 5 p.m in Orlando, the team staged a late-night watch party in Munich, and da Silva starred in a 17-point comeback win. The place was hopping.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the things you have to do, especially on the international side, is you have to be in-market,\u201d Freeman said. <\/p>\n
Being in-market playing live basketball was the next step, and this season\u2019s Global Games in Berlin on Jan. 15 and in London on Jan. 18 are the culmination of a more than 20-year Magic global strategy. To commemorate the event, the team is bringing along corporate sponsors and VIPs from Orlando, not to mention long-tenured employees, a total traveling party of about 225 that will get to witness the Magic\u2019s reach across the ocean. <\/p>\n
These sponsors will be activating with the Magic throughout Global Games week. Orlando Magic <\/p>\n
They may not believe their eyes. Leaning on agency partners such as MHM Majors (for European commercial representation), Sportfive (for event activation) and Tillit (for German social channels), the team\u2019s activations will blanket Berlin. The Magic\u2019s German-based sponsor Deutsche Telekom will host Magic Kiez \u2014 and its five days of merch sales, celebrity appearances and fan fests \u2014 from their Magenta Mitte offices, conveniently presented by Visit Orlando because, after all, that\u2019s the goal: Visit Orlando. <\/p>\n
The Magic\u2019s other German partners \u2014 Aida Cruises, ThreatLocker, Dominos and Kellogg\u2019s \u2014 also will have a presence during the week, which includes watch parties in Hamburg, Cologne and Frankfurt; Magic youth clinics; an NBA Cares event; and a Kellogg\u2019s community appearance. They are expecting mass crowds, largely because the numbers don\u2019t lie: The Magic are the most-watched team in Germany on NBA League Pass this season, increasing 104% year over year.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just Moe and Franz Wagner getting up at 3 a.m. anymore.<\/p>\n
The Magic arrive in Berlin! \ud83e\ude84\ud83c\udde9\ud83c\uddea<\/p>\n
Orlando will battle Memphis in the first-ever NBA regular season game in Berlin on Thursday, January 15 at 2:00pm\/et on Prime! pic.twitter.com\/mpnZuU9Un0<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 NBA (@NBA) January 12, 2026<\/a>