The landing of the NBA in Europa It has few certainties and several questions. The idea is to start in October 2027 with 16 teams, twelve with a fixed place in the style Euroleague and four for sporting merits. Until then, everything is clear. But, from there, the doubts.
The sporting route to acquire a place will be through the Champions FIBA and, possibly, a tournament style March Madness at the end of the season. That is the idea, that is the first question. The second is economic, who will provide the money for this adventure. Adam Silvercommissioner of the NBA and the main promoter of the landing, delegated that part to the participants themselves.
“The investment, at least initially, will come from the teams themselves that join the league. As in a startupinvestors will be the participants and, over time, they will see a return. If we launch this competition successfully, it will take time for it to be a profitable business. “Everyone should be clear that we should not see it in a short-term way,” said Silver.Silverwho gave as an example the WNBAthe women’s professional competition, which is going to turn 30 years old and has spent most of that time being in deficit.
The third leg is the teams that will be at the starting line of this NBA Europe. There are key cities like Athens, Istanbul, Paris, Lyon, Rome, Milan, Madrid, Barcelona, London and Manchester. Lyon y Madrid They seem the most tempted, although with nothing closed at the moment.
Little else is known about this page of the script in which Manchester wants to write a line, but not through the United and City. The BBC confirmed that the two giants of English and European football have refused to be part of the project. Without his presence, a new candidate has appeared on the set: the Manchester Basketballas he assured City AM Ben Pierson.
The president of the club, who disputes the Super League Basketball next to the London Lionsanother of the candidates to have a permanent place, declared that it is negotiating an offer to become a franchise in the competition. The figure for this would be close to a billion dollars, according to Bloomberg.
An astronomical amount that it would face with the support of the private capital of the American company Familia Sherwoodwhich acquired the Manchester Basketball two years ago. There would also be money through other private investors.
“We have the financial resources to submit a bid ourselves if we think it makes sense. But we have also been approached by various groups. I think this will be seen in many other cities: a collaboration between multiple bidders, as financial resources are combined, but also diverse operational experiences,” he told City AM the president.
“There is a lot of capital available, people who are not operators; they want to invest the capital, but they do not want to be on the front line operating the sports franchise,” continued Pierson, who sees his option as more attractive than a possible one of United o Citybeing more integrative.
If one of the two soccer teams took over a franchise like this NBA Europewould break the fans in two. No fans red I would go see the blues and vice versa. In Spain We have the experience in Seville when Betis acquired the city club.
Related news
Your opinions matter!
Comment on the articles and subscribe for free to our newsletter and to the information alerts in the App or the channel WhatsApp. Looking to license content? click here
