Hot days for the NBA Europe project, Monday the deadline for final bids for the future franchises of the new European league promoted by NBA and FIBA, with investor interest confirmed by the numbers now coming back from the market. Sportico reporting all twelve target cities have received offers at or above 500 million dollars, several consortiums already moving past the billion mark. In Italy the focus remains on Basketball Roma Club SPQR, the group including Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Dončić among its investors, after taking over the sporting title of Vanoli Cremona and preparing for Eurocup next season. More than twenty clubs across basketball and football have submitted applications, including several already inside EuroLeague.
The target remains October 2027. NBA and FIBA working toward a structure of twelve permanent franchises and four rotating places tied to qualification routes through existing FIBA competitions, with Athens, Barcelona, Berlin, Istanbul, London, Lyon, Madrid, Manchester, Milan, Munich, Paris and Rome forming the initial footprint of the league. Mark Tatum, NBA deputy commissioner, said the league is “extremely satisfied with the final bids received for the permanent franchises”, describing it as the largest inflow of capital ever seen in European basketball, with candidates identified across all twelve cities. Initial expressions of interest had been submitted by the end of March, the final phase seeing offers rise again, in some cases double, as consortiums consolidated around key urban markets. EuroLeague clubs are among the applicants, with exit clauses already written into certain contracts to allow for a possible move.
NBA Europe takes shape as a hybrid structure, combining elements of the American model such as a salary cap with European mechanisms including local television rights, revenue distribution linked to sporting results, and sponsorships negotiated at club level. The market is still considered undervalued, across players, audiences, and media assets. Financially the NBA is expected to absorb early losses in the opening phase, avoiding additional capital calls on franchise owners during the start-up years, with revenue sharing activated only once balance is reached, and break-even projected around year three for permanent franchises.
Ownership is split at launch, 50 percent NBA franchise owners and 50 percent European franchise owners of the permanent teams. The Board of Governors will review bids in the coming months, with selection unfolding step by step, agreements and clubs defined progressively, toward a 16-team league, a round-robin regular season, and multi-game playoffs.