Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
EuroLeague shareholders met on Friday to vote for the new CEO of the competition, replacing Paulius Motiejunas in the role. Having the support of Real Madrid, among others, Chus Bueno was voted in as the new EuroLeague CEO. The interest shown by the Spanish giant after two years of distance from EuroLeague decision-making is also seen as a signal of its future intentions regarding the competition.
“It’s very difficult to do a lot of things that you need to do to make the sport successful (in London),” Balan had told me much earlier in the day. The words seemed prescient in the moment. “And in order for it to work, the sport needs a catalyst,” Balan said. “I think the NBA and Euroleague’s interest in the U.K. market is going to be a catalyst.”
Silver, the NBA commissioner, is working to stand up a new league in Europe through the deep pockets of sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East, traditional investment firms in the U.S. and Europe, powerhouse European soccer clubs, and a lucrative media rights deal. To begin with, it will be a 16-team league, with 12 teams holding permanent licenses and the other four spots open to virtually any pro team on the continent that can win enough to qualify. The NBA is targeting London, Rome, Paris, Milan, Berlin, Munich, Barcelona, Madrid, Athens, Istanbul, Manchester (England) and Lyon (France) for cities with licensed, permanent teams.
There are legitimate pro teams in each of those cities already, other than Rome, but not all of those teams may apply for a license. Two high-ranking basketball officials, one with the NBA in the U.S. and another in Europe, said the NBA wants “to start with a clean slate” in London, where it could cost a new team more than $1 billion to obtain a license. “Just walking the streets here and being in the hotels, I hear from people all the time saying, ‘I’m sleep deprived following your league,’ (in the U.S.),” Silver told The Athletic during an interview in London, prior to the Memphis Grizzlies-Orlando Magic game at London’s O2 Arena.
“There are more people approaching us and saying, ‘I’d love to have the London franchise,’ and I think it’s not just because it’s such an attractive market, but because there’s no top-tier basketball team right now,” Silver continued. “So, there’s lots of groups seeing an opportunity to create a new brand here.” For the NBA, the London discussion is one of the sheer size, wealth and untapped basketball potential of the market. There are numerous potential suitors. Soccer powerhouses like Arsenal or Chelsea could create a team. The Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund could do it. As could investment firms like Sixth Street.
Advertisement
“The NBA’s ambitions to expand into Europe represent a massive opportunity for the U.K.,” said Lisa Nandy, secretary for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in the U.K. “Franchises could deliver billions of pounds in economic growth and create jobs, but just as importantly, they would bring unforgettable moments for fans right here on home soil. We’re excited to work with the NBA as plans progress.”
NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum has now explained why the league is pushing forward with the project and which markets it views as priorities. "If you're a fan, it's hard to follow professional basketball in Europe. It's easy to follow the NBA, but it's hard to follow European basketball," Tatum told Sportico. "Top tier at EuroLeague is missing some of the biggest commercial markets in Europe. There's no top-tier team in the UK at all, and the UK is the biggest market in Europe. There's no top-tier basketball team there: in London, in Manchester. "There's no permanent top-tier team in the top league there in Paris, in Berlin, in Rome," the executive went on to say. "So, they're missing the biggest commercial markets, which is why they are not able to commercialize basketball.
"Our idea is to create this league – call it 12 to 16 teams – with the biggest countries having permanent franchises. Call it the UK, Spain, Germany, Italy, or France. Two teams in each one of those markets that we know with certainty will have franchises there, and then we'll open it up to the rest of the ecosystem."
As the Financial Times reports, the NBA will share financial projections for its proposed European division with private equity firms and elite football clubs. Per the report, Blackstone, CVC Capital Partners, RedBird Partners, and General Atlantic are among the firms involved.
Real Madrid appears to be following the path of NBA Europe. The Spanish team, who have yet to renew its EuroLeague contract, could be pioneers in the new project that is on the horizon. As confirmed by Jorge Garbajosa, president of FIBA Europe, on COPE’s Tiempo de Juego program, the Spanish team’s interest is genuine. “We know that Real Madrid has shown interest, and the NBA is in direct, high-level talks with the club,” Garbajosa told COPE. “We know it’s an interesting option for them, as it is for other clubs, as Adam Silver said the other day,” he continued.
Advertisement
Following the NBA commissioner’s press conference in Berlin and the subsequent meeting in London, the NBA Europe project appears to be laying its groundwork. “The feeling we have is that this has gotten underway, that this is going to happen,” confirmed Garbajosa himself.
Miguel Ángel Paniagua announced this Thursday on El Partidazo de COPE that Real Madrid will join the NBA Europe project . It is 99% certain that the club will be one of the 12 founding members of the new competition starting in the 2027-2028 season, thus bypassing the EuroLeague, with which FC Barcelona has extended its license for the next 10 seasons .
The future of Real Madrid basketball is at a crucial juncture. As revealed by Pilar Casado on Deportes COPE , the club has yet to sign the renewal of its EuroLeague license , which expires on June 30th and could be extended at any time. Barcelona, ??however, has already signed a license renewal to remain part of the EuroLeague until 2036, provided that "a series of essential requirements are met ," according to EFE.
Talks between Real Madrid and the NBA have been ongoing for some time , and this interest is now gaining momentum. This new European competition project would be led by FIBA ??and the NBA , although, according to Pilar Casado, many details still need to be finalized despite more progress than has been officially announced.