The city map
The NBA has chosen 12 large metropolises as fundamental and inevitable stages for the new League: London and Manchester, Paris and Lyon, Madrid and Barcelona, Milan and Rome, Berlin and Munich, Athens and Istanbul. They are cities that represent the main demographic, financial, media and infrastructural centers of the continent.
The presence of the United Kingdom is strategic to attract global investors and broadcasters. France, with Paris and Lyon, combines audience size, spending capacity and modern infrastructure. Spain, Greece and Türkiye bring a deep basketball tradition and a very strong emotional component. Germany and Italy are seen as ideal industrial platforms: large corporate markets and an economic fabric favorable to sponsors.
It is a distribution that aims to reduce geographical imbalances, avoiding concentration in a single area. Each Market will have at least one stable club, with the possibility that the variable season license will introduce emerging realities from year to year.
The infrastructures
To make the new NBA Europe model work, the arenas must quickly become the heart of the entire operation. Paris certainly has an advantage with its Accor Arena, already chosen as the venue for the NBA Paris Games in the past. It has a capacity of approximately 15,600 seats, extendable to almost 20,000. Berlin defends itself with the Uber Arena, a modern, technological structure perfect for hosting large international events.
In Madrid there is the Movistar Arena, long known as the WiZink Center, which has 15,000 seats configurable for basketball. Barcelona will have the new Palau Blaugrana, designed according to multi-event principles and destined to become one of the main indoor facilities in all of Europe. Monaco recently inaugurated the SAP Garden, with 11,500 seats and a technological and architectural facility built to NBA standards.
Milan represents one of the poles on which the League has placed its greatest attention. The Santa Giulia Arena, designed for the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, will be a 16,000-seat structure with high technical standards, corporate hospitality and flexible configuration for concerts, events and entertainment. The investment is estimated at approximately 180 million euros and constitutes one of the highest peaks of Italian indoor infrastructure.
Next to Santa Giulia remains the Mediolanum Forum, which adds basketball skills and history. Rome will enter the project for the possibility of relaunching a modern facility after years of absence from great basketball.
The economic model
The NBA Europe project rests on 3 major economic pillars. The first is the centralized sale of television and digital rights. After the 2025-2036 maxi-agreement in the United States, in fact, the NBA now wants to replicate the same approach in Europe, with a single container that will be enriched by national packages and a streaming offer in multiple languages, for a higher value compared to the fragmentation of traditional leagues.
The second pillar is global sponsorship. The NBA brand is able to attract partnerships with multinationals in the technology, finance, banking, insurance, lifestyle and travel sectors. These companies invest precisely because the product will not be limited to one country, but will live on a continental market. This means higher revenues for teams, the possibility of managing naming rights on venues and competitions and marketing capable of collaborating with football clubs and multi-sport franchises.
The third pillar is premium ticketing. The NBA brings to Europe a model that transforms the ticket into an experience. Hospitality, club level, personalized memberships, internal retail, fan experience, production and live video content: each element serves to increase the average revenue per seat. A modern arena is not just a place where games are played, but a profit center.
The city-related activities are a further element. NBA events, as already happening in Paris and Abu Dhabi, generate international mobility, hotel bookings, direct revenues in high-end tourism, increased use of transport and media coverage. The American model, which transforms a match into a spectacular event, will be replicated in major European cities.
The relationship with the Euroleague
Many think that the new NBA Europe will replace the Euroleague. In reality, as mentioned, this is not really the case. In fact, we are talking about a project that was born together with FIBA. The presence of the World basketball body thus reduces the risk of overlaps with the national teams’ windows and indeed creates a new institutional framework capable of making the League compatible with international regulations. The NBA has already made a point of ensuring that the competition does not want to cancel domestic championships and does not aim to take teams away from national federations.
The most delicate issue concerns the Euroleague. The choice of a 16-team format and the link with the Basketball Champions League show, at least in the official intentions, the desire to support and not replace. However, analysts know that the presence of the NBA will inevitably change the balance of power. The strongest European clubs could look at the new NBA as a structural upgrade, capable of guaranteeing higher revenues, global visibility and greater economic protection. This will be the element to observe between 2027 and 2030: to understand if the competitions will be able to coexist without conflict.
The role of football clubs
One of the most innovative elements of NBA Europe is the return to the multi-sport model. Real Madrid and Barcelona are consolidated examples: they have been managing basketball sections for decades, investing in their rosters, filling arenas and monetizing their brand and fans. Bayern Munich has followed a similar path, integrating the basketball section into its sports club.
The real news is the willingness of other football clubs to enter an NBA project. Milan and Inter have shown interest in the Milanese version of the League, also because the arrival of the Santa Giulia Arena makes a 12-month event model possible. Paris Basketball lives within the PSG universe, while Manchester City Football Group has been linked to investments in other candidate cities. For large European sports clubs it means diversifying revenues, exploiting digital databases, selling packages to sponsors and building a business less dependent on football.
NBA Europe was created to fill the gap that the Euroleague has generated on a commercial level in recent years. In fact, European basketball has a monetization system that has not really been renewed and which no longer appears to be in step with the times. It is no coincidence that many criticize that it has remained tied to the classic models of sponsorship and box office. The new format brings the culture of sports show business to Europe: not just matches, but entertainment in the arena, premium television rights, technological setups, specialized cameras, advanced graphics, live social content and a story accessible in multiple languages.
The difference will emerge above all in the distribution of revenues. European teams, often dependent on their owners, will be able to count on centralized and guaranteed income. It is the same logic that in the United States has transformed NBA franchises into constantly growing economic entities for over twenty years.
The 3 risks
While presenting itself as futuristic and potentially revolutionary for all of European basketball, NBA Europe is certainly not a risk-free project. The first important point of conflict concerns labor regulation. Each country has its own rules, taxes and sporting contracts, so in order to create a sustainable framework the League will have to harmonize insurance, image rights, injury protection and international transfers. The second risk is infrastructural: not all arenas are ready and some cities will have to complete works or close agreements for naming rights and activations.
The third risk is cultural. European audiences are used to historic rivalries, promotions and relegations, open leagues and hot regional contests. A semi-closed league will have to win over fans with a strong narrative, high-level arena experience and a perception of superior quality. This is why the NBA has chosen a gradual debut: the public’s response will determine the speed of expansion.
The prospects
The inaugural season is set for October 2027, but planning has already officially begun. If everything goes as planned, the calendar should be released during the spring of the same year, so as to allow clubs to start organizing the season and fans to purchase tickets and season tickets. The first year will serve as a test, while between 2028 and 2030 it will be possible to better define the real potential of the project, the possible expansion of licenses, the stabilization of revenues and the entry of new cities. It is not excluded that other markets may be added over the course of the decade, including the Balkans, where the basketball tradition is among the strongest in the world.
It’s a bet
For the NBA, Europe is a rich, urbanized, digitalized market accustomed to great sport. For host cities, this opportunity means international visibility, tourism and investment. For the selected clubs, entering an economic and sporting system that has already been successful in the United States will allow them to generate recurring revenues. For TVs and platforms, having the opportunity to access a premium product with an international television language means approaching new users. Finally, for sponsors, NBA Europe can be a guarantee of global exposure.
We are facing a transformation that could potentially redesign the basketball system across the entire continent. Milan, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Munich and Berlin represent the commercial peak of the new League, Athens and Istanbul are the two great realities that anchor NBA Europe to the European tradition, London and Manchester present themselves as the main financial entrance. Finally there is Roma which, in the eyes of analysts, is more of an industrial and image bet than a solution designed for basketball value.
Whether it will be a win or lose bet, only time will tell. What is certain is that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has pushed to speed up the pace and transform the perception of the US basketball championship in Europe. No longer a League to be observed from afar and hosted with one-off events, but a strong and stable reality on which to rely for immediate media and sporting growth.
Opportunities for the clubs, levers of growth for the host countries and their infrastructures, but above all a breath of fresh air for the fans, ready to observe their favorites up close in a completely new guise, a global show that will attract interest from all over the world. ©
📸Credits: Canva
Article taken from the December 15, 2025 issue of Il Bulletin. Subscribe!
