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\t\tNBA Europe is on the agenda when the league\u2019s execs meet in New York today\t<\/p>\n\t\t\tWednesday 10 September 2025 8:00 am
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\t\t\tTuesday 09 September 2025 5:28 pm\n\t<\/p>\n
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\t\tNBA Europe is on the agenda when the league\u2019s execs meet in New York today\t<\/p>\n
Today in a New York hotel, the NBA\u2019s executive and representatives of all 30 teams\u2019 ownership will hold the third of their three scheduled annual meetings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the agenda will be various matters of concern to the world\u2019s biggest basketball league, but the most intriguing item is its plans for the sport in Europe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Subject to approval from franchise owners, NBA Europe is slated to begin in the next two years, with 2027 widely considered the most likely start date.<\/p>\n
While sources close to the organisation insist no vote will take place today, it could nonetheless represent another significant step towards the project\u2019s realisation.<\/p>\n
Recent months have seen a marked ramping-up of activity around the project, a joint venture between the NBA and Fiba<\/a> which would effectively replace the latter\u2019s existing Champions League and, it is hoped, its rival EuroLeague.<\/p>\n In late July NBA commissioner Adam Silver and deputy Mark Tatum embarked on a European roadshow of sorts<\/a>, calling in London and Paris.<\/p>\n Joined by European bureau boss George Aivazoglou, they shared their plans with a view to garnering support and ensuring politicians at the highest level remained well briefed.<\/p>\n They are understood to have been encouraged by a meeting with Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Downing Street<\/a>, which followed discussions with London Mayor Sadiq Khan.<\/p>\n As well as European giants Real Madrid and Galatasaray, Silver and Tatum held talks with potential investors in NBA Europe franchises, including CVC Capital Partners, RedBird, Bridgepoint, KKR and HongShan.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n \t\t\tInside SLB v BBF: Top lawyers, bitter barbs and the European Super League<\/a><\/p>\n JPMorgan and the Raine Group have been engaged as co-advisors, with the former leading on financial structuring and execution, including courting investors. Raine, fresh from its role in attracting \u00a3500m of investment to cricket\u2019s The Hundred<\/a>, is supporting strategic planning.<\/p>\n NBA Europe: What we know so far<\/p>\n Current thinking is that NBA Europe would launch with 14-16 teams, most of whom would be permanent members from both Western Europe\u2019s capitals such as London, Paris and Berlin and Eastern Europe\u2019s basketball hotbeds, like Athens and Istanbul.<\/p>\n A minority of spots would be open to qualification via domestic competitions, a move designed to ensure compliance with the European sports model<\/a> and nip any legal disputes in the bud.<\/p>\n Other cities in line for teams include Barcelona and Madrid, as well as Manchester, who it was announced earlier this summer will host a regular-season NBA game for the first time in 2027<\/a>.<\/p>\n NBA Europe was conceived as a means of connecting the sport\u2019s burgeoning popularity and talent pool on this side of the Atlantic with a more commercially viable local product.<\/p>\n While some of the biggest current stars in the US are European imports, such as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic and Victor Wembanyama, basketball has just a one per cent share of the continent\u2019s sports media rights market.\u00a0<\/p>\n Back in New York, Silver is expected to deliver an update on the plans to media on Wednesday afternoon. But the green light may be sooner than some think.<\/p>\n Potential franchise owners are anticipating progress in the next few weeks, while a vote of NBA owners is thought unlikely to be held back until next year\u2019s first meeting in March.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n