NBA team owners to vote on proposed European League

NBA team owners will vote this week on whether to move forward with a plan for a new professional basketball league in Europe, according to Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams of Sportico (subscription required).

Reporting throughout the season has indicated that the NBA was exploring the possibility of launching its own league in Europe in order to both expand the sport’s presence overseas and to put the NBA in position to “share more directly in the economics of that growth,” as Soshnick and Novy-Williams write.

According to Sportico, the NBA believes that the basketball ecosystem in Europe and the Middle East could be worth up to $3 billion in annual revenue.

Here are some of the details of the proposal, as outlined by Sportico:

• The goal would be for the league to have eight to 10 teams.
• It’s a “semi-open” proposal, which means there would be up to four spots available for top EuroLeague teams to compete in the NBA’s European league the following year.
• The league’s permanent franchise slots would be sold to outside investors, with the NBA holding 50% equity in the league and the franchise owners holding the other 50%.
• The NBA would prefer to sell franchises to people outside of the league. Sportico suggests that potential buyers could include sovereign wealth funds, private capital, wealthy individuals, or existing European basketball clubs.
• Franchises in cities like London or Paris could sell for at least $500MM, per the NBA’s proposal.

The NBA’s team owners are set to meet this week in New York. The vote on the European league will take place during those meetings.