By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Tapping into football (soccer if you are reading from the US) popularity and the tribalism of European fans was one of the main angles in the NBA Europe project.
However, according to Bloomberg, football club owners are not happy with some of the proposed terms of the project.
While the bids are in and they are impressive, they seem to be coming mainly from funds that are interested in acquiring sports assets.
According to Bloomberg, football club owners who are interested in the project “have also registered their opposition to some of the proposed terms and questioned the lack of detail before being asked to make bids, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information”.
The main friction point is that while the NBA will take almost half of the competition income, UEFA, which is the organizer of the Champions League, takes only about 2.5% of its net revenue, distributing the rest to clubs.
Bloomberg also reveals that “the economics of the proposed league would be split with the NBA and the participating clubs’ owners each taking a 45% stake, according to a person familiar with the matter. The international basketball governing body, FIBA, would receive a 5% share, leaving the final 5% potentially held for prospective future partners. The exact split has yet to be decided, and negotiations are ongoing”.
Marca follows up this report and includes also a very strong comment by an anonymous executive who is comparing the proposal with President Donald Trump seizing the Venezuelan oil: “I come to your land and take it from you. Tomorrow you pay me 500 million for your land, and 45% of what your land produces is for us”.
Paris Saint-Germain remains cautious
Eurohoops sources confirm that football clubs that don’t have other sports branches and have been linked to the project have not yet decided whether to make a bid.
Paris Saint-Germain, one of the first such clubs mentioned as potential members of the NBA Europe project and owned by Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), remains cautious despite having contacts with the NBA for a variety of endeavors, including a desire to bring NBA pre-season games to Qatar.
Obviously, the current situation in the Middle East creates a very complicated landscape, and this may also be a concern.
Also, there’s no indication yet that major English football clubs are interested in creating basketball teams.