{"id":435142,"date":"2025-03-27T14:55:31","date_gmt":"2025-03-27T13:55:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/?p=435142"},"modified":"2025-03-27T14:55:31","modified_gmt":"2025-03-27T13:55:31","slug":"today-adam-silver-presents-nba-owners-with-proposal-for-new-european-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/today-adam-silver-presents-nba-owners-with-proposal-for-new-european-league\/","title":{"rendered":"Today, Adam Silver Presents NBA Owners with Proposal for New European League"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: The Athletic, March 27, 2025 \u2013 by Joe Vardon, Adam Crafton, and Mike Vorkunov<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Overview:<\/strong>
\nNBA Commissioner Adam Silver<\/strong> is preparing to formally present a proposal for a new European professional basketball league<\/strong> to the NBA Board of Governors in New York. The initiative, potentially launching in 2026<\/strong>, is still in its conceptual phase but represents the NBA\u2019s most ambitious effort yet to expand globally with a structured presence in Europe.<\/p>\n

\n

Key Elements of the Proposal:<\/strong><\/h3>\n
    \n
  • League Composition:<\/strong>
    \nThe proposed league could consist of 16 teams<\/strong>, including:<\/p>\n
      \n
    • New franchises in major markets<\/strong> such as Paris and London<\/strong><\/li>\n
    • Potential defectors from EuroLeague<\/strong>, such as Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, ASVEL (France)<\/strong>, and Fenerbah\u00e7e (Turkey)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
    • Investment Model:<\/strong>
      \nTeam investors would own stakes<\/strong> in the league. However, rumors of a $500 million franchise buy-in were dismissed by NBA insiders as speculative<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
    • Promotion\/Relegation Considerations:<\/strong>
      \nUnlike the closed structure of the NBA, Silver has indicated openness to exploring European models<\/strong>, with the possibility of some slots earned through success in national leagues<\/strong> or FIBA\u2019s Basketball Champions League<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
    • Governance and Partnerships:<\/strong>\n
        \n
      • A formal partnership with FIBA<\/strong> is central to the plan.<\/li>\n
      • Andreas Zagklis<\/strong>, FIBA Secretary General, traveled to New York for the meeting but will not be part of the initial pitch.<\/li>\n
      • No formal vote is expected at this stage, but Silver is seeking authorization to proceed<\/strong> with formal negotiations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
        \n

        Potential Franchises and Markets:<\/strong><\/h3>\n
          \n
        • Paris:<\/strong>
          \nQatar Sports Investments (QSI), owner of Paris Saint-Germain, has expressed interest in owning a basketball team in Paris<\/strong>. This could compete with Paris Basketball<\/strong>, which already plays in France\u2019s domestic league and EuroLeague.<\/li>\n
        • United Kingdom:<\/strong>
          \nLondon and Manchester are also under consideration. The Manchester City FC ownership group<\/strong> (Abu Dhabi United Group) has shown interest in NBA investment, though sovereign wealth funds<\/strong> are currently limited to a 20% stake<\/strong> in any NBA franchise.<\/li>\n
        • Germany:<\/strong>
          \nMarkets like Berlin<\/strong> and Munich<\/strong> are part of the NBA\u2019s long-term expansion vision.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
          \n

          EuroLeague Dynamics & Competitive Landscape:<\/strong><\/h3>\n
            \n
          • Tensions with EuroLeague:<\/strong>
            \nThe NBA and EuroLeague have previously held talks, but EuroLeague rejected past partnership attempts<\/strong>. EuroLeague executives are now watching developments closely amid internal uncertainties.<\/li>\n
          • FIBA\u2013EuroLeague Conflict:<\/strong>
            \nFIBA and EuroLeague have had longstanding disputes, including over scheduling conflicts<\/strong> and governance models \u2014 factors that may facilitate a pivot toward NBA cooperation<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
            \n

            Adam Silver\u2019s Vision:<\/strong><\/h3>\n

            Silver has long admired European football\u2019s commercial ecosystem<\/strong> and believes basketball on the continent has untapped marketing potential<\/strong>. Speaking in Paris in January, he emphasized respect for the traditions of European basketball<\/strong> but also the need to adopt best practices from both continents to ensure commercial viability<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

            \u201cThere\u2019s enormous history and tradition here… but we\u2019re taking a fresh look at what the most effective practices are for building a league that works,\u201d Silver said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

            \n

            What\u2019s Next?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

            The presentation to NBA owners is a preliminary step<\/strong>. If given the green light, the NBA will intensify negotiations with:<\/p>\n

              \n
            • European club teams<\/li>\n
            • Private investors<\/li>\n
            • FIBA
              \nNo teams have officially committed to joining the league, and the EuroLeague has not been informed of any defections<\/strong> as of now.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
              \n

              Implications for Global Basketball:<\/strong><\/p>\n

              This development could reshape the European basketball landscape<\/strong>, bringing the NBA’s branding power, commercial infrastructure, and governance model into direct interaction \u2014 and likely competition \u2014 with EuroLeague and domestic federations.<\/p>\n

               <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              Source: The Athletic, March 27, 2025 \u2013 by Joe Vardon, Adam Crafton, and Mike Vorkunov<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":427199,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_spbk_hide_featured":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[199,399],"tags":[],"rumors":[],"typology":[],"posizionamento":[],"class_list":["post-435142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-euroleague","category-nba"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/02\/NBA-EuroLeague.png","digistream_id":0,"digistream":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/427199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435142"},{"taxonomy":"rumors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rumors?post=435142"},{"taxonomy":"typology","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/typology?post=435142"},{"taxonomy":"posizionamento","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posizionamento?post=435142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}