NBA sees arena opportunities with new European league

The National Basketball Association and International Basketball Federation (FIBA) have confirmed their joint exploration of a new professional men’s league in Europe, with NBA commissioner Adam Silver highlighting the opportunity for development of NBA-level arenas.

The potential for a new competition, to challenge the established EuroLeague and EuroCup events run by Euroleague Basketball, has been in the offing for some time, with the NBA and FIBA having commenced initial talks over a year ago.

Following the NBA Board of Governors meeting in New York yesterday (Thursday), the two organisations declared that they will seek to continue discussions with prospective investors, teams, arena developers and commercial partners. 

Under the plan being explored, the new league would be integrated into the current European basketball landscape, with teams also participating in their respective national leagues. A 16-team league is currently being considered, 12 of which would be permanent members and the remaining slots open to clubs via a qualification process.

As part of a new league, the NBA and FIBA would also plan to dedicate financial support and resources to the continued development of Europe’s basketball ecosystem, including club team academies and the NBA and FIBA’s existing programs to develop aspiring players, coaches and referees at all levels of the game.

Silver was joined at yesterday’s announcement by FIBA secretary general, Andreas Zagklis, who said: “The European basketball community is proud of its seven-decade history of international club competitions and the elite talent it develops.

“Yet given the sport’s popularity and the success of national team competitions, there is untapped potential in European club basketball. A new league in Europe would combine the NBA’s business acumen with the international expertise of FIBA to attract new basketball fans and investors alike, maximise club benefits, and establish synergies for the benefit of all stakeholders.”

Silver added: “The NBA and FIBA are uniquely positioned to build on the rich tradition of European basketball. We look forward to collaborating with FIBA to explore the creation of a new league for fans across the continent.”

Stakeholders are said to be targeting Europe’s major football clubs for involvement in the new league, while The Athletic said four current EuroLeague teams – Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, LDLC ASVEL and Fenerbahçe Beko – are being looked upon as potential defectors.

FIBA and Euroleague Basketball have long been at odds over the running of the sport on the continent and Zagklis yesterday repeatedly referred to the EuroLeague as “that league”.

Zagklis and Silver, when questioned whether current EuroLeague teams could be part of the new league, failed to deny the possibility. Zagklis added: “All clubs that play in Europe are FIBA clubs. They play in their national championships, they play in their national competitions and some of them play in that competition and some of them own a piece of that.

“Our role… is to unite the basketball ecosystem. We have tried it in the past, and we are trying it now. We want our top tier clubs to make more money, to be sustainable, because the majority of them are not.”

Silver stated that part of the thinking over newly formed teams, and the ownership of clubs in the new league, is about the NBA identifying certain cities and creating NBA-level facilities in those markets.

He said: “We are looking at existing arena infrastructure in Europe, but at the same time I’d say part of the opportunity is to potentially build more state-of-the-art basketball-style arenas in Europe. That’s where we see an opportunity in terms of incentivising partners, potential team owners, maybe existing clubs to come in – modernise facilities or build new ones.

“In addition, we are obviously looking at size of cities. Certain European cities of course are well-known in the United States, are media capitals, capitals of industry. These are things we’re looking at. But there also are some hotbeds of basketball in Europe and there’s tremendous interest in our sport.”