Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum said that NBA Europe “plans to begin naming winning bidders for 12 permanent European teams in the next 60 to 90 days,” according to Alex Sherman of CNBC.com. He added that the league remains “on track to debut in October 2027.” The 12 new teams will be located in Rome, Milan, London, Manchester, Paris, Lyon, Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, Munich, Athens and Istanbul.
Tatum said that the league is “looking for ‘great operators’ who will invest in new stadiums,” adding that there are “only ‘two to three world-class’ basketball arenas in all of Europe.” The NBA is “considering how to intermingle NBA Europe teams with its existing North American teams.” In the short term, Tatum said that NBA Europe teams “could play teams based in the U.S. and Canada in the preseason.” Then, over time, teams across the two leagues “could meet up in the Emirates NBA Cup.”
Q. Do you see an agreement between the NBA and the Euroleague possible for the creation of a new unified tournament? George Aivazoglou: I would say I see it the same way I have seen it for a while. The NBA has been very consistent that it wants to get involved with the Euroleague, and with all the European players, and bring them together as part of this new effort. I would say that the last few months have been very encouraging, with my good friend Chus Bueno. We have been in contact very often. We were together a few days ago in Geneva, and there is a very positive and very healthy exchange. From there, I would say, and Adam Silver and Mark Tatum also mentioned this, the NBA's decision is to move forward with this tournament with or without the Euroleague. But right now, there is a lot of focus, a lot of intention and energy going into those discussions, which will hopefully lead to a very positive outcome. But we still have a lot of work to do, that's the honest answer.
The NBA, the San Antonio Spurs and Emirates are hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday to officially unveil refurbished spaces at the Denver Heights Community Center. As a part of its NBA Cares Finals Legacy Project presented by Emirates, the community center’s revamped gym, multipurpose room and “upgraded gaming equipment for youth and families” will be on display for use for the first time.
Among the attendees for the ceremony will be: · NBA Commissioner Adam Silver · NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum · Spurs Sports & Entertainment CEO RC Buford · Spurs players Harrison Barnes, Lindy Waters III, Mason Plumlee, Bismack Biyombo and David Jones Garcia
Advertisement
NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum provided another update on the NBA Europe project, confirming the league's target launch timeline. According to Tatum, NBA Europe is expected to begin in October 2027. He also said the NBA is prepared to move forward with the project alongside FIBA and its partners if an agreement with EuroLeague is not reached, though discussions between the two sides remain ongoing. "We are building a system that will benefit the European clubs starting from October 2027," Tatum said, via Aris Barkas. "At the end of the month, the bids will be finalized, and after that, we will go through our process. There's no specific timeline for announcements; we have to finalize our negotiations with the clubs for a tipoff in October 2027," he added.
A former NBA employee, Chus Bueno, is continuing the talks with the NBA about their European project, which may or may not include the EuroLeague. And the EuroLeague, on its side, may work or may not work with the NBA. “We had breakfast yesterday with George Aivazoglou”, said Bueno, and admitted that everything is on the table: “We are open to exploring, but this doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. There’s no time pressure for us or the NBA, but there’s a matter of momentum. Adam Silver said it, Mark Tatum said it, fragmentation is losing value. It would be better to maximise the opportunity together with the NBA”. So the issue here is to have the proper understanding and a model that would work, as Bueno explained: “You can get a good deal in life, but it’s another thing to do a good project. It’s part of the process to understand each other. Everything is on the table; it’s too soon”.
The period for gauging interest from potential investors, who submitted letters of interest rather than formal offers, ended on April 1st. The NBA's assessment at the time was extremely positive. “We have received significant interest from various teams and potential investors in acquiring permanent franchise slots in a new European league backed by the NBA and FIBA. The level of participation and the size of the offers reflect the market's confidence in our proposed model and the enormous untapped potential of European basketball,” said Mark Tatum, assistant to Commissioner Adam Silver. The NBA did not officially release figures, but sources well-connected to the American league spoke of more than 120 interested investors, including about 20 existing soccer and basketball teams (including some from the EuroLeague), as well as investment groups and individual millionaires. According to these sources, the NBA received several offers between $500 million and $1 billion, and even one exceeding $1 billion.
Marc Stein: The NBA, I'm told, continues to target 2027-28 as the planned inaugural season for launching NBA Europe. Commissioner Adam Silver and deputy commissioner Mark Tatum have made it clear they hope to collaborate with the EuroLeague rather than compete against it and the NBA has announced that it held talks today with EuroLeague representatives at FIBA headquarters in Switzerland. It's believed that more than 20 existing European basketball and football clubs, including teams currently in the EuroLeague, have lodged bids for NBA Europe franchises.
Chus Bueno: Regarding the ecosystem, you have probably seen during last weeks, that the National Basketball Association (NBA), is raising the capital to come to Europe, supported by FIBA, and how we all said we are all open to explore a partnership together. Too soon to see if it’s possible and how to do that, we all know it is not easy, and we (basketball stakeholders) have not been able to do it so far. But I believe we can all agree that fragmentation dilutes value, and creates friction (not only among institutions, also within the media landscape, the market penetration, sponsorship, or even the friction within our fanbase supporting one league or concept vs another etc) and this is why I said that if the National Basketball Association (NBA) raises the capital and decides to come and invest time and resources in Europe, we (Euroleague and its clubs) should be open to discuss how we can grow the game and business together so we all benefit.
Advertisement
Chus Bueno: NBA commisioner Adam Silver, said that he thinks would be better to find an agreement with the Euroleague, during the last press conference a couple of weeks ago. I have been at the NBA almost 13 years, and I know Adam Silver, Mark Tatum and George Aivazoglou well. High personal and professional appreciation for my former colleagues, and they know it. I know what the NBA brings to the table regarding the game, the product, marketing, comercial, operations, brand, etc. We (the Euroleague side) have the top European basketball teams, the biggest basketball cities, and the highest European clubs fan base with decades of tradition. If they finally come, we should explore how we maximize this opportunity. We will all defend the best interest for our clubs, owners, capital etc… but there is trust among us to have honest conversations, sometimes critical and we will disagree on things!!But we need to figure out together the best solution for all. European Basketball is too important and deserves a great future.
AEK BC Athens entered the race to join the brand-new NBA Europe league, the SDNA reports. NBA President Mark Tatum recently confirmed that over 50 organizations have submitted applications for a franchise in specific cities, with Athens being one of the key candidates.
The NBA is determined to launch its own European league. If it succeeds, will that mean the end of the EuroLeague? Chus Bueno: I'm taking a preliminary step. As you know, I have a very good relationship with the NBA and many of its executives, including Adam Silver and Mark Tatum. They've opened what's called a 'data room,' which is a collection of files where they explain the project to the people they want to explain it to. This ends on the 26th or 27th, and then they'll present their conclusions to their Board of Governors. For now, we have to be respectful, we have to wait, and we have to see how the market responds to what they say they want to do and what their proposed project is worth. We agreed with the NBA that we would wait and that once this process is over, we would sit down together. Because, as they themselves have said, they would be delighted to discuss the matter with the EuroLeague and see if there's any common ground and if we can reach some kind of agreement.
If the NBA doesn't ultimately get the money it expected from investment funds, why do you think it's better for European teams to partner with the Euroleague instead of going it alone? Chus Bueno: Because if you do it with all 12 clubs, or 13 including CSKA, you already have the best fan bases, the best cities, the best teams. You don't have to split it in half; it's a fundamental part. Half the value is lost. Do you want to dilute that value? Anything that fragments or divides is detrimental to basketball and diminishes its value. What makes the most sense is to sit down, try to build those bridges we were talking about, and since there's a good relationship and trust, I think it can be achieved at both the league and club levels. Q. Is an alliance between the NBA and the Euroleague possible? Chus Bueno: Of course it's possible. Of course. We'll see what happens once the NBA's deadline for securing the investment has passed. But we also made that clear to Mark Tatum last week. They know we're here, and we've agreed to let this period pass, but we're very eager to sit down and see how we can find common ground.