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Brian Windhorst
PARIS — Speaking on European soil Thursday, amid a week of celebration over a new European star in Victor Wembanyama, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver made clear he was seriously interested in a US-led invasion of the basketball business on the continent.
Over the past year, the NBA league office has explored the concept of creating a new standalone European league, separate from the NBA. In his most detailed comment on the subject, Silver made it clear that he believed the current top league, the 18-team Euroleague, was leaving money and growth on the table, and that the NBA saw an opportunity to ‘enter it.
“While Europe continues to produce some of the best players in the world – many of our most recent MVPs are of course European – we believe the commercial opportunity has not kept pace with the growth of the game,” Silver said. said before the San Antonio Spurs took on the Indiana Pacers in the first of two games at the Accor Arena in Paris.
“And what we do in the NBA is we run leagues. We run the WNBA of course, we have the (Basketball Africa League), we have the G League, we have a 2K video league. We run so five different leagues and we think that’s an expertise that we have. So we’re looking very closely at whether there’s an opportunity to professionalize the game at another level to create a bigger commercial opportunity.
It’s an explosive story in Europe, a threat to the legacy of the league founded in 1958, just a decade after the NBA. But for the NBA’s core business domestically, it indicates that Silver and his top lieutenants are much more focused on conquering new territories than expanding their current league in America to places like Las Vegas and Seattle, as had also been a recent consideration.
Silver still has to convince his bosses, the team’s 30 owners, to give the green light to this venture. Multiple ownership sources told ESPN that there are still many questions and uncertainties surrounding the plan that need to be answered before it can be ratified. Silver hinted Thursday that a decision on whether to move forward with the project could come after a owners’ meeting scheduled for March.
One problem for the owners, according to sources, is that other leagues run by the NBA are not consistently profitable. In addition to generating revenue through media rights, a new league could generate substantial revenue through expansion fees, sources familiar with the concept said.
Most of the league’s top executives traveled to Paris this week to meet with potential teams, media partners and sponsors, as the league focuses more attention on the topic.
“Our plan all along was to spend some time here (last summer) when we were here for the Olympics to have a series of meetings, and we stayed on the ground here for about two weeks to watch ourselves basketball,” Silver said. “(Then) go back, do additional work, always knowing that we would be here this week in January to schedule a series of meetings here and take advantage of this opportunity. We have an NBA board meeting at the end March, we” I will mainly take stock of our bosses. »
Last fall, the secretary general of international governing body FIBA made a presentation to owners in New York on partnering with the NBA for European expansion. In November, according to sources at ESPN, NBA general manager for Europe and the Middle East George Aivazoglou made a presentation to an owners committee that included detailed plans on which cities the league would look to to place its teams and other projections.
Over the past year, the NBA has contacted potential investors and team owners to gauge their interest, sources told ESPN. Additionally, the league has contacted some major soccer clubs in Europe to discuss the possibility of creating basketball teams for the league, sources said.
“The tenor of the meetings has been very positive. It’s not against anyone or any other organization,” Silver said of the meetings with potential partners. “When we look at this opportunity and these potential partners, what they’re telling us is that they believe that from a business perspective, in terms of the networks that they represent or are a part of, or the consumer companies they represent, they believe There is a desire to connect with consumers, particularly younger consumers, who typically make up the NBA’s fan base, and who believe the market is ready for more in this sport.”
As part of this effort, the NBA appears ready to schedule NBA games in different regions of Europe. After playing regular season games in Paris for the past three years and London before the pandemic, the league has had discussions about playing regular season games in new locations such as Manchester, England and Berlin in the near future, where possible expansion of teams for a European league could be located.
