By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Revisiting the NBA Europe project, a partnership between the NBA and FIBA to create a new top-tier league in Europe, the deputy commissioner of the NBA, Mark Tatum, confirmed various aspects of the plan, while adding a projection on club entry bids to begin in the first quarter of 2026, as reported by Sports Business Journal on Wednesday.
“If we can get everything signed off on by our owners and by FIBA,” said the 56-year-old executive, sharing his projections with Abe Madkour at SBJ’s annual Dealmakers conference in New York.
He named Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, FC Bayern Munich, and LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne as candidates to switch from the EuroLeague to the new league, confirming France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Turkiye, and Greece as countries to fit in the list of 10 to 12 permanent participants.
“Almost like the Champions League of basketball in Europe,” he said. “So brands like Real 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 also 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.”
“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,” he added on teams from other countries having a chance to qualify.
“It will be the best basketball in Europe,” he also ranked NBA Europe on the basketball global map, “If the NBA is players one through 450, [NBA] Europe is 451 through 900.”
Asked then by Madkour if there is another continent that the NBA wants to dominate, Tatum added on a lighter tone, “There’s not one that we don’t want to dominate. I’d say all of them.”
NBA versus NBA Europe
Questions to Tatum also went into matchups between NBA and European teams.
“In the immediate short term, you could see a competition –think about as a preseason cup,” he said. “Where NBA teams go over and play against European league teams. And you create a little tournament around that, where the Knicks and the Lakers and the Bulls go over and play PSG, Real and Man City. So that we could do Year One. And I think that would be an exciting proposition. You award a cup at the end of that.”
“Medium term and I mean, five, ten years down the road, you could see a situation where the winners of the top two finishers and the European league, for example, get entered into the NBA Cup tournament. So now all of a sudden you have an AC Milan and a Barcelona playing in the NBA Cup tournament,” he added.
“At some point, and again I’m talking long term down the road, you could see a scenario where the quality of the basketball continues to rise,” he furthered. “Where you now have world-class infrastructure in these major world-class cities. And where supersonic travel becomes a reality, you could see a situation down the road where there’s a division [in Europe] of the NBA.”
Tatum also stressed financial rules to ensure competitive balance and long-term viability. “We’ve got a little bit of work to do there…with the model, with our owners, with FIBA,” he described.
NCAA and WNBA connections
Furthermore, he predicted that NBA Europe can help European youngsters to stay on the continent, instead of pursuing NCAA opportunities to develop their talents in the United States.
Referring to inquiries by potential investors, he revealed the new league can also combine with the launch of WNBA Europe. “At some point, there’s a conversation to be had,” he mentioned on a women’s European league backed by the NBA and FIBA.
One billion fees, revenue questions, and the BCL as a bridge
However, it also has to be noted that there’s not yet any mention about the potential revenues of the league and the clubs, with Tatum confirming that the participation fee will range between 500M and one billion: “I think that’s what JP Morgan and RAINN, as our advisors, are going through that process now. We think that the valuations that are being out there and discussed are very, very viable based on the economic model that we’ve put together. And I think that the economic model that we’ve put together allows these franchises to make money. And it makes an economically viable investment”.
Tatum also added that the Basketball Champions League will have a key role in the new ecosystem for the target launch date of October 2027: “You could see in two years every team, franchise teams and non-franchise teams, playing in the BCL, as an example. And then that would be the qualifying year, where the four non-franchise teams would then qualify the following season for the top-tier league. And then those permanent franchise teams would be in the league year after year, and then the qualification for the other four would start the following season”.