The NBA is formally targeting an October 2027 launch for the new 16-team European League, with preferred cities including London, Paris, Rome, Milan, Berlin, Munich, Barcelona, Madrid, Athens and Istanbul. George Aivazoglou, general manager of the NBA offices in Europe and the Middle East, unveiled the timeline Friday at a Football Business Forum in Milan.
Aivazoglou said 12 teams would be permanent members, while four teams would compete via play-in through FIBA’s Champions League or domestic competitions. Manchester and Lyon were also mentioned as potential locations for the new venture.
The NBA has hired JP Morgan Chase and the Raine Group to identify potential investors. The talks focused on sovereign wealth funds, private equity firms and wealthy families, and an announcement is expected soon.
“It would be a new league that brings together NBA and NBA Europe teams – later an NBA Cup format with American and European teams, or a tournament like last summer’s FIFA Club World Cup – as part of an increasingly integrated framework,” Aivazoglou said, according to audio obtained by The Athletic.
Existing basketball powerhouses Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Alba Berlin and ASVEL are expected to participate, according to two European basketball sources. Four of those clubs currently compete in the EuroLeague.
The NBA is seeking partnerships with soccer organizations in some cities. In Paris, the league is pursuing a relationship with the Qatari authorities that own Paris Saint-Germain. Similar discussions are taking place in Milan with football clubs with deep pockets.
Aivazoglou identified three categories of potential teams: existing basketball franchises, soccer clubs with large fan bases that do not have basketball programs, and in a limited number of cases, new teams built from scratch. Rome currently does not have a top-level professional basketball team.
The impact on the EuroLeague’s survival remains unclear. Eight of the twenty current EuroLeague teams play in cities on the NBA’s target list, potentially excluding historic franchises unless they qualify through FIBA or domestic leagues.
Commissioner Adam Silver has suggested that the European competition represents a form of expansion that could delay or replace the addition of teams to the NBA’s current 30-franchise structure.
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