By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
RedBird Capital Partners officially announced the launch of the Milan Sports & Entertainment (MSE) holding company and the appointment of Brett Yormark as Chief Executive Officer.
The new company will be, among other things, responsible for “exploring the opportunity to own a Milan-based franchise in the proposed NBA Europe league”, as it is stated in the official press release.
RedBird is among the NBA’s main partners in preparing its European league, and Gerry Cardinale, founder of RedBird Capital Partners, is a key figure in the endeavor.
The new company under Yormark, who currently serves as Commissioner of the Big 12 Conference and in the past was a Brooklyn Nets executive, will oversee “investments in Milan across the sports, venue and entertainment ecosystem” and “bring together individual assets within an integrated, multi-sport platform, providing centralized operations, shared capabilities and integrated partnerships across its holdings”.
For the NBA Europe project, Eurohoops sources say there’s a clear pathway for MSE.
RedBird already owns Varese and has presented a bid for the NBA Europe franchise in Milan. With Varese just 60 klm away from Milan, the team is expected to stay in Varese and maybe add the words Milan or North Italy in the name of the club.
They will play in their existing arena for the domestic league games, but for NBA Europe games, they will use a new arena, which is expected to be built in Malpensa, an area between Milan and Varese, where the local international airport of Milan is also located.
The other NBA Europe franchise in Italy is expected to be BC Roma, which is backed by Luka Doncic, even though they have also presented a franchise bid for the EuroLeague.
However, according to a “Gazzetta dello Sport” report, confirmed by Eurohoops sources, the other new team created in the Italian capital, Maxima Roma, has won the EuroLeague expansion bid.
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