The National Basketball Association’s ambitious plan to establish a European league has captured enormous investor attention, with numerous parties offering investments of $1 billion or more, according to Wednesday reports from The Athletic.
Sources indicate that over 120 different investors submitted varying financial proposals before Tuesday night’s deadline for preliminary, non-binding offers.
“We have received significant interest from a range of prospective teams and investors for permanent franchise spots in a new league in Europe,” NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum said in a statement to The Athletic.
“The level of engagement and the scale of the bids reflect the marketplace’s belief in our proposed model and the enormous, untapped potential for European basketball. We will now review the bids in more detail and shortlist the partners who share our vision and commitment to accelerating the growth of the game across the continent.”
According to reports, the NBA is looking for investments ranging from $500 million to $1 billion for permanent membership in the European venture.
The league has identified 12 major European cities as potential homes for permanent franchises: London, Manchester, Paris, Lyon, Rome, Milan, Barcelona, Madrid, Berlin, Munich, Athens and Istanbul.
The proposed structure would feature these 12 “licensed” franchises competing alongside four additional teams each season that would qualify through performance in smaller European leagues.
Recent discussions have centered on potential collaboration between the NBA and existing EuroLeague operations, though the relationship could become competitive depending on how the NBA Europe initiative develops.
“I think for the betterment of European basketball, the best outcome would be if we came together with the EuroLeague here and that we came up with a systematic approach to growing the game throughout Europe,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said last week.
Silver continues to target October 2027 as the launch date for NBA Europe operations.
