NBA Europe franchise bids could come in January

After months of fact-finding and vetting from J.P. Morgan and the Raine investment group, Commissioner Adam Silver said Tuesday night that NBA is on the verge of “serious conversations” in January with prospective NBA Europe franchises that some sources believe will be tantamount to open bidding.

Other sources said that the NBA Europe’s financial blueprint is crystalizing by the day. A salary cap still needs to be formalized, but a source familiar with the template said the NBA’s 30 current owners will own 50% of the league and the European franchises will own the other 50% —similar to how the WNBA is structured.

Current NBA owners would also not be allowed to invest in or own any part of an NBA Europe team, which rules out Arsenal from the bidding because it belongs to Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke.

At last month’s Dealmakers conference in N.Y., NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum said he expected the league would begin seeking bids in the first quarter of 2026, and insiders construed Silver’s comments to mean that could happen as soon as next month. Tatum also said in November that the 10-to-12 team league would launch in 2027 and potentially even play a preseason tournament against U.S. NBA teams that same year.

“I would say we’re casting a very, very wide net right now and essentially saying to anyone who’s interested, ‘Come see our bankers, explain to us why you’re interested, how you view the opportunity, what resources you would put behind opening a team,’” Silver said tonight ahead of the NBA Cup Final in Las Vegas. “And then we’re taking all that information back, and then I think sometime in late January or in January, we’ll be in a position to have more serious conversations with those interested parties.”

Source have said that the NBA is seeking between $500M and $1B for NBA Europe franchise fees, and Silver reiterated Tuesday night that the possibilities include “soccer clubs, some who have basketball teams, some who don’t have basketball teams, existing basketball organizations who potentially would be interested in joining our league. We’re talking to other organizations or individuals who don’t own any team who would be interested if we expanded to Europe, looking at opportunities.”

However, Tatum has made no secret that the final franchises will likely be chosen from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Turkey and Greece. And he has specifically mentioned potential EuroLeague clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and LDLC ASVEL, which former NBAer Tony Parker owns.

“We at the league office are still working on the economic model, want to make sure it makes sense,” Silver said. “As I’ve said before, many of the cities we’d like to be in don’t have a sufficient arena infrastructure, so that’s something that we would need to work on in terms of private investment, maybe work with those municipalities, as well. We have been moving along on a very constructive path.”

Considering Rockets F Kevin Durant is an investor in PSG, another prospective NBA Europe franchise, Siver said the NBA would have to “figure out a framework for those issues and work with the Players Association on that.” Under the current CBA, NBA players can only invest in WNBA franchise — not NBA teams.