NBA plans to launch European league ‘in the next two years’
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A record 135 players born outside the United States are on opening-night rosters, the NBA said on Oct 21, with 43 countries represented across six continents.
PHOTO: AFP
LOS ANGELES – The National Basketball Association (NBA) plans to finalise franchise fees in the next few months, with a goal of launching NBA Europe
Speaking to the international media, he said: “Yes, our goal is to launch in the next two years. Obviously, that’s pending NBA and Fiba (basketball’s world governing body) board approval.”
According to the Sports Business Journal (SBJ), the NBA is eyeing franchise fees in the range of US$500 million (S$649.6 million) to US$1 billion and has hired J.P. Morgan and Raine Group to “refine” the business plan.
“In the near, immediate future, we’re going to start engaging in a meaningful way with potential investors in the league,” Tatum said on Oct 21, reported talkSport.
“We’re sort of going to the next step. And I think over the next, call it eight weeks or so, we’ll have a really good sense of where we are in terms of the level of interest.”
The SBJ reported that while it is considered unlikely, the NBA could walk away from the project if it does not receive the market value it believes is warranted. In the meantime, the business template includes determining potential team locations.
“We think that this league will include a combination of existing clubs, potential new clubs that don’t exist today, and maybe there’s some football clubs who don’t have a basketball team but who want to invest in a basketball team,” Tatum said.
“In Phase 1, our initial plan is to go 10 to 12 cities – primarily (the) UK, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, maybe Turkey, maybe Greece for franchises.”
Tatum said the NBA would run the “top-tier” league.
“Our plan would be for Fiba’s Basketball Champions League to be the second-tier division,” he said. “And then at the launch of this league, there will be four open spots that teams across the continent would qualify for, on an annual basis through a transparent merit-based process, either by winning their respective domestic leagues and then playing into the Basketball Champions League, or you can create one big play-in tournament of the domestic champions.
“Down the road, you could see things like having the winners or the top-two finishers in the European League come enter into the NBA Cup and get injected to the NBA Cup.
“And then really down the road, once supersonic travel happens, you could see a division of the NBA in Europe.”
London will host its 10th regular-season NBA game when the Memphis Grizzlies play the Orlando Magic on Jan 18, 2026. There are plans for the league to play games in Manchester and Paris in 2027, and in Berlin and Paris in 2028.
“There are no top-tier teams in the UK,” Tatum told talkSport. “We think that there has to be, because we know that the demand, that the number of fans in the UK, that the size of the market, that we have to service those fans.”
A record 135 players born outside the United States are on opening-night rosters, the NBA said on Oct 21, with 43 countries from six continents represented.
The new NBA season tipped off on Oct 21, marking the 12th consecutive year opening-night rosters have had at least 100 international players in the US-based league. The previous record for international players was 125 at the start of the 2023-24 season.
Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece), Nikola Jokic (Serbia), Luka Doncic (Slovenia) and Victor Wembanyama (France) were among the record 71 European players on the opening-night rosters.
Meanwhile, the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) made its feelings known about NBA commissioner Adam Silver’s choice of wording when referring to collective bargaining negotiations on the Today show on Oct 21.
Silver was asked by NBC host Craig Melvin if the WNBA players should be getting a larger share of the burgeoning league’s revenue. The commissioner initially replied “yes”, but then clarified his response.
“I mean, I think share isn’t the right way to look at it because there’s so much more revenue in the NBA,” he said.
“I think you should look at the absolute numbers in terms of what they’re making, and they are going to get a big increase in this cycle of collective bargaining, and they deserve it.”
The WNBPA responded with an Instagram post of the video with the caption: “Don’t want to share, @adamsilvernba?”
The players and union were already at odds with WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert regarding her leadership and icy relationships with them.
Revenue sharing is a big sticking point in the negotiations as the two sides face an Oct 31 deadline with the expiry of the collective bargaining agreement. REUTERS
