The inaugural season of NBA Europe has been pushed back by 12 months, with the competition now scheduled to launch in 2028. To prepare for this rollout, organizers are planning a pre-qualifying tournament for next year to select four temporary participants. These teams will join 12 permanent franchise members for the league’s opening season. With a pre-qualifying competition planned for next year to find four temporary members to join the 16-team league’s inaugural season alongside 12 permanent franchises, t he launch of NBA Europe will be delayed 12 months until 2028. With prices expected to range from $500m to more than $1bn for the London franchise, it is understood to have received multiple offers for the 12 franchises that exceed their targets.
Backed by a massive $10bn (£7.6bn) commitment over the next decade, the NBA aims to develop the project into the largest startup competition in sports history. Market interest has been high, with bidding for the 12 permanent franchise spots reportedly exceeding initial financial goals. Experts anticipate individual franchise valuations ranging from $500 million to over $1 billion, particularly for the London franchise. The NBA is planning to invest about $10bn (£7.6bn) over 10 years in what sources have described as the sporting world’s biggest-ever startup competition.
High-profile investors are lining up for a stake in the project. The bidding pool for the London site includes figures like former Chelsea chair Todd Boehly, a consortium featuring ex-Tottenham chair Daniel Levy alongside MSP Sports Capital, and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. Meanwhile, Buss Sports Capital, the investment group that recently offloaded its stake in the Los Angeles Lakers, has reportedly bid for the Manchester franchise.
City Football Group (CFG), despite its significant partnership with the NBA—which includes a $300m deal for an academy in Abu Dhabi—has notably stayed out of the bidding process. This remains a sensitive point, as the NBA maintains close ties with CFG and its chairman, Khaldoon al-Mubarak, who developed a passion for the sport during his time at Tufts University. The league is currently navigating the fallout from Manchester City’s legal issues regarding financial regulations, though the absence of a bid from the club offers some relief to the NBA. The US investment group that sold their 17.8% stake in the Los Angeles Lakers to Joshua Kushner earlier this year, are believed to have submitted an offer for the Manchester franchise, but City Football Group (CFG) has not bid despite having close links with the NBA, which has agreed to set up a new global academy in Abu Dhabi as part of a $300m partnership, buss Sports Capital.
NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum has been conducting meetings with top-tier European football executives, including those from Real Madrid, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, and Milan. Tatum noted that the league is attracting both well-capitalized investors new to basketball and existing clubs looking to expand their footprint. The core of their strategy is to foster investment in regional infrastructure, including indoor arenas and youth development academies. According to “We’ve got people who are well-capitalised investors who don’t own any basketball franchise, but they want to get into basketball,” Tatem, At last week’s general assembly of European Football Clubs.
However, the transition to a hybrid structure has not been seamless. In a recent vote at a summit in Lake Como, EuroLeague clubs rejected the NBA’s investment proposal, choosing instead to pursue their own expansion from 20 to 24 teams. Despite this, Tatum emphasized that the league remains committed to an inclusive vision that brings together the EuroLeague, governing bodies, and local clubs to modernize the European basketball scene.
The league’s design borrows elements from the controversial European Super League (ESL) model, featuring 12 permanent members and four annual qualifiers. These entry spots will be determined by rankings in the Basketball Champions League and a secondary tournament for domestic champions. Furthermore, the highest-ranked non-permanent club reaching the playoffs will secure a spot for the following season, creating a dynamic turnover mechanism.
Some analysts suggest that for certain football powerhouses, the move is as much about setting a precedent for semi-closed league structures as it is about basketball. Sources indicate that Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez has been actively tracking the project’s progress. With Real Madrid’s commercial partners still challenging UEFA and FIFA in court, the existence of a high-value, semi-closed league serves as a strategic hedge should the prospect of a breakaway football project regain momentum.
As negotiations continue, the NBA hopes to confirm the identity of all franchise owners by the end of this year, though no formal timeline has been finalized for the final selections.
