The NBA and FIBA will begin formally speaking with NBA Europe teams in January
Whatever is happening with internal expansionthe NBA Europe League is proceeding at full speed.
The NBA and FIBA announced Monday that “in January they will move forward in their joint exploration of a new professional, pan-European men’s basketball league, involving potential teams and ownership groups in the process of joining the league.” While there have been informal meetings with potential teams over the past year – and JP Morgan has been reviewing potential investors’ financials – things are now about to get much more formal.
Announcement
The 12-16 team championship is expected to have several “permanent” members – Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich have been mentioned as teams the league will meet – but will also provide “a merit-based path” to qualify each year, either through the FIBA Basketball Champions League or another European league tournament. The new NBA league will need some big names from existing clubs to gain the support of the fans it seeks across Europe.
“[The NBA has met with] a combination of existing clubs, organizations that own clubs in other leagues, city officials, many of whom I’ve met, as well as state government leaders in terms of interest,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in Las Vegas last week before the NBA Cup Final. “I would say we’ve felt very positive interest in us moving forward.
“I think we at the league office are still working on the economic model, we want to make sure it makes sense. As I said before, a lot of the cities we would like to be in don’t have enough arena infrastructure, so that’s something we should be working on in terms of private investment, maybe working with those municipalities as well.”
What the NBA will want is a formal salary structure (probably with a cap) to build this league, and the NBA is banking on its business model – and ability to build new arenas – to turn it into a profitable venture for both the teams involved and the league.
Announcement
With its announcement, the league also said that both it and FIBA ”plan to dedicate financial support and resources to the continued development of the European basketball ecosystem, including national leagues, club team academies, and existing NBA and FIBA programs to develop aspiring players, coaches and referees at all levels of the game.”
The goal was to launch the new NBA Europe league in the fall of 2027.