The meeting for the NBA Europe project was held in London. La Gazzetta dello Sport reveals that 250 people were present in the room, including Olimpia Milano, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester City, Asvel, Panathinaikos, Bayern Munich and Alba Berlin.
Among the funds and banking institutions were KKR, RedBird, Lazard, Rothschild, Sixth Street, Blackstone, Arctos, BC Partners, QSI and PIF. Also present were J.P. Morgan and Raine Group, the two banks entrusted by the NBA with an initial consulting phase and now involved in the project as potential investors.
Leading the entire NBA front office were Commissioner Adam Silver and his deputy Mark Tatum, as well as Managing Director for Europe George Aivazoglou, who spoke about the league itself alongside FIBA Europe President Jorge Garbajosa, after initial greetings from Silver and FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic had this to say about RedBird: ‘I am convinced that if the NBA comes up with an idea and a business model and combines it with European fans, it will be a perfect partnership.’
Gerry Cardinale, RedBird’s number one, who has been absent from Italy for some time, also spoke: ‘I think it will be incredibly successful if we can take what we’ve learned in the US and what we’ve learned here…’
For La Gazzetta dello Sport, the next two months will be decisive.
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