By Stefan Acevski / info@eurohoops.net
During the day, it became clear that the EuroLeague will also feature 20 clubs next season, and compared to last season, Beşiktaş will play instead of Monaco.
This is likely the last season in this format, as expansion might follow as early as the 2027/28 season, and soon we could see clubs in the elite that we haven’t seen before.
London could also get its club in the NBA Europe project, and in Jonathan Rest’s article on “SportBusiness” it is mentioned that this project has attracted several bidders.
They are willing to offer up to around a billion dollars for this project in one of the most important European cities.
“More than five groups have submitted best and final bids to own the London-based franchise in the new NBA Europe venture, which is expected to sell for well in excess of $1bn (€880m), SportBusiness can reveal.
Binding bids for the 12 teams are due on Monday (June 29), with sources close to the process confirming that London and Paris comfortably lead the field.
London, however, has generated the most interest from a range of investor types, including football clubs, sovereign wealth funds, private equity firms and ultra high-net-worth individuals and family groups.
Former Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy is understood to be fronting a consortium involving Formula E owner Liberty Global and Jahm Najafi, co-founder of US private equity firm MSP Sports Capital, for the London franchise.
After Monday’s deadline passes, the NBA, which has been working with advisers JP Morgan and The Raine Group, will then proceed to sell the franchises. They will go on the market one at a time, starting with the most in-demand, giving unsuccessful bidders the opportunity to redirect offers to different cities.
London is therefore likely to kick-off the process, followed by Paris. It is understood that both will sell for above $1bn.”
The five major European TV markets of UK, Spain, France, Germany and Italy are expected to each contribute two of the 12 permanent franchises, with one each in the European basketball heartlands of Greece and Turkey.
“When the deadline closed on March 31 for non-binding bids, there was understood to have been interest from over 120 investors, with offers for some franchises exceeding $1bn. Those have now been whittled down but, it is understood, a few more binding bids are expected to arrive over the weekend.”
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