NBA Commissioner Adam Silver confirmed Thursday the existence of “discussions with Real Madrid and other Spanish clubs” with a view to creating a league in Europe, while warning that the profitability of this new competition would take time.
The NBA, which aims to launch its league in Europe in the fall of 2027, is in “discussions with Real Madrid and other Spanish clubs,” Silver said during a press conference held on the sidelines of a match between Orlando and Memphis relocated to Berlin.
But, at this stage, it is more of a process aimed at “collecting information” than formal invitations to join this league, he added, cautiously.
He also did not give the identity of the other Spanish clubs with whom the NBA is in contact. On Tuesday, FC Barcelona announced to the other shareholders of the Euroleague that it had renewed its license for this competition for ten years, which seems to outline a future outside of NBA Europe.
The Euroleague is in fact to this day the main club competition in Europe, and the NBA project is seen as being in direct competition, which Adam Silver was however keen to qualify. “I don’t think a clash is inevitable… I think there is plenty of room for competition,” he said.
The commissioner further assured that his project in Europe focused on “finding the right combination between the old and the new, between tradition and innovation”.
According to him, NBA Europe is intended to welcome newly created teams as well as existing ones.
He also considered that future partner teams, called upon to pay an expensive entry fee, should think about “the very long term” and be patient about the profitability of the event.
Adam Silver took an example from the WNBA created in 1996. “Thirty years later, it’s incredible what’s happening in women’s basketball” in the United States, he argued.
