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Basketball is popular on the continent, but it is still underdeveloped compared to soccer. If you want to create a billion-dollar league quickly, you do not start from scratch. You plug into Real Madrid, Paris-Saint Germain and AC Milan, just to name a few. “The clubs are still of the mind that the NBA needs them much more than the clubs need the NBA,” one source familiar with the negotiations said. “Half these clubs don’t really need a basketball team. If you really challenge them, I think they would love to have one in many ways but it’s not a necessity.”
Owners of some of the continent's biggest football clubs are among those to have expressed an interest, including RedBird Capital Partners, the owner of AC Milan, and Qatar Sports Investments, owner of the French Ligue 1 side Paris Saint-Germain. Media reports have also named private equity firms including BC Partners, Blackstone and General Atlantic among other potential suitors. Sources said interested parties would meet NBA officials in the coming weeks, with preferred bidders being announced in waves, rather than all 10-12 simultaneously. Liberty Global is a separate company to Liberty Media Corporation, the owner of Formula One motor racing, but moved to increase its interest in Formula E in 2024 when it bought shares held by Warner Bros Discovery.
Inter Milan president Beppe Marotta confirms. Oaktree is closely monitoring the NBA Europe project, though there have been no substantial updates in recent days. Something is moving for Italian and Milanese basketball, and now even the Nerazzurri are not hiding: "I know that Oaktree is interested in this project, that the NBA wants to bring their show to Europe and that Milan is one of the cities designated," the Nerazzurri's leader said, interviewed by Luca Guazzoni of Ansa during the video conference at the Milan stage of Motore Italia, the Milano Finanza roadshow. The topic is extremely hot, and Beppe Marotta absolutely doesn't want to turn this occasion into an off-field derby with AC Milan's owners. Quite the opposite: "It's purely hypothetical. I can guarantee that there's an exceptional relationship between RedBird and Oaktree."
In a significant development for the European sporting landscape, Inter Milan chairman and CEO Giuseppe Marotta has confirmed that the club’s owners, Oaktree Capital, are closely monitoring the NBA Europe project. Speaking via video conference at the Motore Italia roadshow organized by Milano Finanza, the 68-year-old executive addressed growing speculation regarding a potential off-field derby between Inter and AC Milan to secure a franchise in the NBA’s upcoming continental expansion.
He emphasized the ‘exceptional relationship’ between Inter’s owners and AC Milan’s RedBird Capital, noting that while he represents the club’s sporting interests, the NBA venture remains a strategic decision for ownership. “I have no updates or details,” Marotta stated. “I represent Inter, and this concerns the ownership. I know Oaktree is interested in this project, that the NBA wants to bring their show to Europe, and that Milan is among the cities targeted.”
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Sources with direct knowledge of the investors’ plans have said the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, which has a massive sports portfolio and started LIV Golf, is preparing to submit a bid for a new London-based team. Qatar Sports Investments, which owns soccer giant Paris Saint-Germain, is prepping one for a new team in Paris, and Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital, which owns Italian soccer powerhouse AC Milan, will submit a bid for a new team in Milan.
Metabilia, a company that partners with NFL and NBA teams to sell game-used and autographed memorabilia, uses tamper-proof stickers outfitted with a tiny epoxy disc containing diamond nanoparticles. "It's invisible to the normal eye, it's its own fingerprint," said Nicole Johnson, the co-founder of Metabilia. "It's indestructible." Another company, MatchWornShirt, partners with soccer clubs -- including Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Chelsea, AC Milan and Bayern Munich -- and a number of NBA teams to auction game-worn, signed jerseys to collectors, straight off players. The company uses a chip embedded in jerseys that uploads a digital certificate of authenticity and match-worn information to customers' cell phones.
Representatives from Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, two soccer and basketball heavyweights, Olimpia Milano, Panathinaikos, ASVEL, Bayern Munich and Alba Berlin were participants, signaling their interest in joining NBA Europe. NBA officials met privately with Fenerbahce, a top European team from Istanbul, last week in Berlin. Additionally, representatives from English soccer giant Manchester City were there, as were executives from Italian soccer powerhouse AC Milan, signaling their intent to either create new teams in their cities or invest further in existing teams.
Telegraph Media Group owner and Liverpool FC investor RedBird Capital Partners is working with the NBA on its plans to launch a European basketball league, City AM can reveal. RedBird, which also owns Italian football giants AC Milan, is playing a prominent role in wooing potential investors and partners in the venture at an exclusive meeting in London today.
Tatum also laid out countries that will likely host the 10-to-12 permanent NBA Europe franchises, identifying France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Turkey and Greece. He also specifically singled out potential Euroleague clubs such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and LDLC ASVEL (owned by former NBAer Tony Parker). “Almost like the Champions League of basketball in Europe,” Tatum said. “So brands like Real Madrid and Barca and Man City and PSG and AC Milan playing basketball. That’s pretty compelling. Not only premium live sports content that’s relevant in Europe, but it’s relevant globally. It’s relevant in Asia, it’s relevant in the United States and North America because some of the brands that we’re talking to have tremendous global followings.” He also mentioned there would likely be a bridge year before four other teams qualify for the league in Year 2, saying, “If you’re in Lithuania, if you’re in Serbia, if you’re in Croatia, other clubs in those markets, we want every team to have an opportunity to play into that top tier league.”
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O'Dea alum and NBA All-Star Paolo Banchero has joined the ownership group of the Seattle Seawolves. The Seawolves announced Banchero’s investment as part of his expanding sports portfolio, which includes a stake in AC Milan. “Adding Paolo to the Seawolves family is incredibly exciting,” said Seawolves majority owner Chris Prentice. “His roots in Seattle, his commitment to excellence, and his passion for uplifting the community align perfectly with the values of our club.”
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, alongside Boston Red Sox owner Fenway Sports Group and RedBird Capital Partners, owner of the AC Milan Italian soccer club, have expressed interest in owning an NBA franchise in Las Vegas. So has Bill Foley, the owner of the National Hockey League’s Las Vegas Golden Knights. “We have a very powerful group — I can tell you money is not a problem,” Foley said. He added that his group includes “several well-known basketball players and a couple very wealthy people, people who can buy me and sell me 20 times over.” A person familiar with the matter said James “continues to be interested and in discussion with his partners at Fenway about the opportunity.” Fenway Sports Group declined to comment.
The New York Yankees baseball franchise and a Los Angeles investment fund are investing in AC Milan alongside US private equity group RedBird, which is closing in on the €1.2bn acquisition of Italy’s football champions, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said. The baseball team, owned by the Steinbrenner family, and Main Street Advisors, the LA-based fund that counts among its investors basketball star LeBron James, famed music producer Jimmy Iovine and rapper Drake, will become shareholders in the Serie A team, those people said. RedBird is set to announce the entry of its new partners as early as Wednesday when it is expected to officially take control of the club from its current owner, US hedge fund Elliott Management, those people said.
