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Bueno also disputed NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum’s claim that NBA Europe could distribute three times as much money to clubs as EuroLeague’s projected business plan. He argued that any comparison must account for the initial entry investment required under the NBA proposal. “If franchises put in €500 million and earn €240 million over ten years, they are still losing €260 million. In our case, they don’t lose money because they don’t put anything in. If they generate €100 million or €200 million, that is what they generate.”
NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum said the Philippines remains part of the league’s plans, although a game in the country is not an immediate priority. During an online press conference with global media on Tuesday night, Tatum outlined the NBA’s continued efforts in the Philippines, including grassroots programs and fan events. “Games in the Philippines are not on the immediate docket,” said Tatum. “[But] we’re going to continue to engage with our tens of millions of fans in the Philippines. We’re going to continue to do grassroots events there, programs there and make our games available there.”
The NBA is moving toward agreements with a number of European soccer powerhouses to help stand up a new, continental basketball league in the Old Country, four sources with direct knowledge of the negotiations told The Athletic.
For instance, Mark Tatum, deputy commissioner for the NBA and commissioner Adam Silver’s chief representative on foreign affairs, was a guest Tuesday at the European Football Clubs annual conference, hosted by EFC and Paris Saint-Germain soccer president, Nasser Al-Khelaifi. It wasn’t so much what Tatum said, but who hosted him and who was in the audience, those sources said, that point to the NBA’s progress toward striking deals with big soccer clubs.
Next week in Italy, the EuroLeague, Europe’s top continental basketball competition, will hold a meeting of its shareholders to consider proposals from the NBA to acquire EuroLeague and merge it with the new NBA Europe, those sources said. “Obviously, (Tatum) wouldn’t be invited here if things with the football clubs weren’t moving in the right direction,” said one official from an interested soccer powerhouse at the Copenhagen conference.
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Throughout my travels in recent weeks, I’ve heard pointed skepticism from various stakeholders in the game abroad questioning whether the NBA is going to be able to launch its new NBA Europe venture next season as Silver and deputy commissioner Mark Tatum have long hoped. The league office, however, staunchly dismissed such suggestions when asked directly on Monday. A league spokesman, in a statement to The Stein Line, said: “We continue to target a rollout beginning in October 2027.”
Silver said the level of interest has exceeded expectations, with several cities stepping forward even without being invited to bid. “In terms of NBA Europe, yes, things are where I hoped they would be. Mark Tatum is here, who is overseeing the process. We’ve had tremendous interest from multiple cities in Europe, including cities that we didn’t even ask for bids from.” The commissioner added that the NBA is currently finalizing bids for an initial group of cities and noted that many European bidders will be in New York for Sunday’s World Cup final. “We discussed with our board today that we’re in the process of finalizing those bids, I think for an initial group of cities. Many of the people who are involved in those bids, the European bidders, are actually going to be in New York for the World Cup final on Sunday.”
Mike Vorkunov: NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum said the NBA has landed on clear frontrunners in 12 cities for NBA Europe after it received final bids for the league's launch. That list of includes "existing basketball and football clubs." The NBA now will shift to finalizing agreements.
The latest bids for NBA Europe franchises were due Monday, and they came in at $500 million or higher in each of the 12 target cities, with multiple bids of more than $1 billion. Bids were made by more than 20 existing basketball and soccer clubs, including current EuroLeague teams, according to someone familiar with the details.
For those first dozen teams, the group is speaking with bidders in Athens, Greece; Barcelona, Spain; Berlin; Istanbul; London; Lyon, France; Madrid, Spain; Manchester, England; Milan; Munich; Paris; and Rome. “We’re extremely encouraged by the final bids we received for permanent franchises,” Mark Tatum, NBA deputy commissioner, said in a statement. “This will be the biggest influx of capital European basketball has ever seen, and we have clear front-runners in each of our 12 target cities, including many existing basketball and football clubs. We will now work with the NBA and FIBA Boards to finalize the long-form agreements.”
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NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum said that NBA Europe “plans to begin naming winning bidders for 12 permanent European teams in the next 60 to 90 days,” according to Alex Sherman of CNBC.com. He added that the league remains “on track to debut in October 2027.” The 12 new teams will be located in Rome, Milan, London, Manchester, Paris, Lyon, Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, Munich, Athens and Istanbul.
Tatum said that the league is “looking for ‘great operators’ who will invest in new stadiums,” adding that there are “only ‘two to three world-class’ basketball arenas in all of Europe.” The NBA is “considering how to intermingle NBA Europe teams with its existing North American teams.” In the short term, Tatum said that NBA Europe teams “could play teams based in the U.S. and Canada in the preseason.” Then, over time, teams across the two leagues “could meet up in the Emirates NBA Cup.”
Q. Do you see an agreement between the NBA and the Euroleague possible for the creation of a new unified tournament? George Aivazoglou: I would say I see it the same way I have seen it for a while. The NBA has been very consistent that it wants to get involved with the Euroleague, and with all the European players, and bring them together as part of this new effort. I would say that the last few months have been very encouraging, with my good friend Chus Bueno. We have been in contact very often. We were together a few days ago in Geneva, and there is a very positive and very healthy exchange. From there, I would say, and Adam Silver and Mark Tatum also mentioned this, the NBA's decision is to move forward with this tournament with or without the Euroleague. But right now, there is a lot of focus, a lot of intention and energy going into those discussions, which will hopefully lead to a very positive outcome. But we still have a lot of work to do, that's the honest answer.
The NBA, the San Antonio Spurs and Emirates are hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday to officially unveil refurbished spaces at the Denver Heights Community Center. As a part of its NBA Cares Finals Legacy Project presented by Emirates, the community center’s revamped gym, multipurpose room and “upgraded gaming equipment for youth and families” will be on display for use for the first time.