Many find it hard to believe it, because there are still a lot of things to be resolved for such a launch to happen, but the NBA and the FIBA seem determined to launch their NBA Europe project in less than two years.
“Subject to vote by the NBA and FIBA offices, the October 2027 target for launch is realistic” explained the general secretary of FIBA, Andreas Zagklis. “It will not be an NBA competition, but NBA-FIBA, a partnership. A large operational part will be carried out by people from the NBA, but FIBA is not just there to give its blessing. We have been organizing events since the 1950s, the BCL, of which we are part owners, continues to grow. As for discussions with ECA (the company organizing the Euroleague), they are good. We hope there will be many more meetings. For the first time since 2002/03 there are steps forward. Our role as a governing body is to bring everyone back and ensure that everyone finds their place around the table for the future of European basketball. »
For FIBA, which has been under the control of the Euroleague at the highest European level for two decades, this association with the NBA sounds like revenge.
“June Madness” for the last four tickets?
Moreover, Andreas Zagklis does not fail to ironize on the arguments of ECA, which evokes the danger of a closed league organized in Europe by foreign capital, while the Euroleague has used the opposite arguments to impose on FIBA an almost closed league for ten years, by seeking capital outside Europe.
“We are already fragmented” he notes. “I’m not worried about statements saying: ‘We don’t need new competition’. For our part, we think we need an event that brings everyone under the same roof. I am not satisfied with the current situation. In 2000, FIBA fought for a simple structure with two or three levels of competition. We were sued for this in Munich, as well as in Brussels, by some European clubs and ECAs, the argument being that we wanted to defend a monopoly. This meant, from this perspective, that market “fragmentation” was seen as a good thing in business terms. The Euroleague fought for this free competition. Today, she would like the opposite? I would find it strange today to explain to fans and politicians that now that the NBA is arriving, with greater financial power, this poses a problem. »
It remains to be seen how to organize all of this, in particular the circulation between the different levels of European basketball (championships, BCL, NBA Europe, etc.). In addition to the 12 permanent clubs, four annual bonus tickets will be up for grabs. Perhaps as part of a major tournament beforehand, a European “June Madness”?
