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NBA Europe could include big cities like Paris, Madrid, Milan, Istanbul, Munich?
“I’d say it’s the single biggest opportunity (in Europe),” said George Aivazoglou, the NBA’s managing director for Europe and the Middle East (EME), speaking on stage at SportsPro Live at London’s Kia Oval last month. Details of the proposed new league are not yet fully defined, but the NBA’s laser-like focus on having teams in major European cities has been clear from the outset. In the UK, London and Manchester are being earmarked for representation in a 16-team competition that could also feature teams from Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Rome, Milan and Istanbul, according to Aivazoglou, when he spoke to EuroHoops.
“Fans in Abu Dhabi will have the opportunity to see two of the NBA’s historic franchises when the Knicks and 76ers face off in October,” added George Aivazoglou, managing director of the NBA for Europe and Middle East, “We look forward to engaging fans and aspiring players from the local community and across the region for the fourth consecutive year, through our games and surrounding events.” In connection with the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, Abu Dhabi is set to host the Final Four of the 2024-25 season between May 23 and 25.
A familiar face appeared on a television while George King was enjoying some down time from playing pro basketball in the Middle East. To the American’s delight, it was Boston Celtics guard Derrick White, and King videotaped his ex-University of Colorado teammate with his cell phone. King is enjoying Morocco while playing in the Basketball Africa League, and like White, has NBA ties. “It’s funny. I have this video that I need to send to him,” King told Andscape on April 5 before practice. “I was in Lebanon at a restaurant and Derrick was on TV, and I taped myself watching him saying, ‘Yo, you are a global superstar all in Lebanon at this restaurant.’ He was doing some community event, kissing babies.”
Specifically, from the United States and the Middle East. The NBA has already reached out to current team owners and limited partners and received interest in buying into new teams, sources said. For wealthy Americans and potentially hedge funds, the idea of buying equity in an NBA product in attractive European cities is an interesting investment opportunity. There is only so much availability to buy into NBA teams and only so much immediate upside, and involvement in actually running the operation is limited. This would be a new frontier.
The Middle East funds have limited access to the NBA now -- they are restricted to passive stakes of no higher than 20% -- but could be a major partner in a new NBA Europe, including having franchises based there, sources said. And yes, it's a long way from Europe to the Middle East, but the United Arab Emirates owns its own world-class airlines, which it has already offered to ease the cost burden on teams traveling to its cities. Qatar, which is hosting the 2027 FIBA World Cup and already owns 5% of the Washington Wizards, also has its own airline.
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Middle East governments with massive sovereign funds have invested heavily in basketball over the past several years. The NBA and USA Basketball have an association with Abu Dhabi, which is currently in negotiations to fund a new global academy for the league there, sources said. Recently, Abu Dhabi won the rights to host the 2025 EuroLeague Final Four, the first time the event will be held outside of Europe.
According to EuroLeague sources, “Abu Dhabi represents a first step into a new region. Whether that can lead to other activity in the Middle East remains to be seen. This first experience will provide lots of learnings, which will inform any future discussions”. Considering the event site, “Abu Dhabi has a first-class arena and extensive experience in organizing major events, including NBA games, Formula 1 races, and UFC fights. They are committed to delivering a world-class Final Four event, as they have done with many others”.
A few months after putting the NBA champion Boston Celtics up for sale, majority owner Wyc Grousbeck was in the Middle East pitching the team to one of the region’s biggest investors. The Celtics played preseason games in Abu Dhabi in October as part of the NBA’s third annual trip to the capital of the United Arab Emirates. During that trip, Grousbeck met with Mubadala Investment Co., one of the country’s sovereign wealth funds, to discuss a potential investment, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
While Mubadala has yet to decide whether to invest, Bloomberg reported last year that its executives are interested in NBA ownership. However, major Middle East investors are unwilling to take passive stakes in teams at steep valuations that don’t offer a say on management, according to people familiar with the matter. Sovereign wealth funds can own as much as 20% of an NBA franchise.
The league is exploring opening a new academy in another part of the world where it can improve the basketball infrastructure. It is considering the Middle East and Asia. The United Arab Emirates would make sense as a likely favorite to be that new hub, though the NBA has not settled on a choice yet.
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The Middle East is a valuable market for the N.B.A. for several reasons. As governments in the region have looked to diversify their economies away from oil and gas, they have spent billions of dollars on sports teams and leagues and major sporting events. And the area’s riches can be a boon for the league. In addition to sponsorships from Emirati entities, sovereign wealth funds are allowed to buy small stakes in N.B.A. teams.
The population of the Middle East market is a tiny fraction of that of China, where the NBA maintains a huge fanbase, but it is outsized in terms of its potential as a business partner. Abu Dhabi's population is roughly equal to the state of New Jersey, but three of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world are based there, including the behemoth Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, which has nearly $1 trillion under management. That has contributed to Silver embracing the region, despite it not currently being seen as a possible producer of NBA talent, as China had once been viewed.
"I hear the comments about sportswashing," Silver said in reference to Middle East investment in American sports in an interview last year on "The Dan Patrick Show." "On the other hand, you're talking about it, others are talking about it. In the same way the soccer World Cup brought enormous attention to Qatar, I think people learn about these countries, learn about what's happening in the world in ways they otherwise wouldn't. So I think the media does its job. "Talking specifically about the NBA, we're such a global sport," Silver continued. "I think people are a little too dismissive these days about the benefits that come from the commonality around sports. That with a sport like basketball, our Finals are distributed virtually everywhere in the world, the sport is played, everywhere in the world. It's an opportunity to bring people together."
The 36-year-old guard admitted receiving a lot of messages on social media of people being against his move to Israel, which is currently involved in a couple of conflicts in the Middle East. "When I make a decision just to go play basketball, everyone now is like the smartest expert of what's going on in the world. It's the funniest thing to me," Beverley said on the latest episode of the Pat Bev Podcast. "People tell me, 'Hey, you know it's war?' 'Oh, OK, cool. You've been there? You've seen it? Or you're just hearing about stuff that you see on TV?'"
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