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Euroleague says it remains open to working with the National Basketball Association (NBA) over the latter’s European expansion ambitions, but warns cooperation is not inevitable.
The NBA plans to launch a European division comprising 12 permanent franchises based in major cities and four qualifiers from existing competitions.
It is working with the International Basketball Federation (Fiba) and wants Euroleague teams to participate – either as permanent or rotating members – to benefit from their existing infrastructure and fanbases.
The scale of the investment coupled with the brand awareness of the NBA would appear to present a significant threat to Euroleague, which was critical of the plans under its previous leadership, arguing that another major European competition risked further fragmentation.
However, the appointment of former NBA Europe vice president Jesus ‘Chus’ Bueno as chief executive in January has led to a thawing in relations.
Speaking to journalists ahead of the EuroLeague Final Four in Athens, Bueno said the league was pressing ahead with its own plans for commercial expansion. But it would always entertain any discussion with the NBA that would benefit its members and the European basketball ecosystem.
“We are open, and we’re having conversations with the NBA,” Bueno told journalists ahead of the EuroLeague Final Four in Athens. “As you know, I was [at the NBA] for 30 years, they’re friends… if there is an opportunity, and we can maximise the opportunity, because it’s good for the basketball ecosystem… we have to explore, we want to do it.
“[But] that doesn’t mean that it’s going to happen. I just want to be clear on that.”
Although no formal meetings took place in Athens given Euroleague’s focus on delivering the Final Four event, Bueno is in regular text communication with the NBA and said the two sides would meet in June.
NBA executives, including Silver, have been regular visitors to the Final Four in the past, with George Aivazoglou, NBA managing director in Europe and the Middle East, and Tory Justice, NBA head of basketball operations, attending this year’s event.
The NBA has reportedly attracted more than 120 expressions of interest in European franchises. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has been linked with a new London team, Paris St Germain (PSG) owners Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) is targeting a new franchise in the French capital and RedBird Capital Partners is exploring a team in Milan.
Despite the NBA’s global clout, the Euroleague believes it is negotiating from a position of strength given its incumbent position. A report it commissioned from JB Capital values the league and its teams at €3.2 billion.
It has been speculated that some of the expressions of interest are conditional on Euroleague’s support of the project and the NBA is keen to involve as many of the continent’s biggest teams as possible.
Bueno said the interests of Euroleague clubs and the future of European basketball were just as important as the headline terms of any deal, suggesting it was the identity of the NBA’s investors and their intentions that were of greater concern than the NBA itself.
“The NBA is a great partner, they know how to operate,” he said. “I’ve been there, I know them, I know what they bring to the table. But I don’t know the other people that can bring. What are the investors? Are they good? Are they sophisticated? Do they understand the system in Europe?”
Euroleague would most likely pursue a deal that would benefit its teams as a collective, reducing the prospect of the NBA ‘cherry picking’. Euroleague has also secured long-term commitments from nearly all of its permanent teams as it shifts to a franchise-based model, with Real Madrid the sole exception. This would make it more challenging, but not legally impossible, for Euroleague’s teams to breakaway.
Regardless of the NBA situation, Euroleague is seeking to raise €2.5 billion (US$2.91 billion) in capital over the next three seasons to fund growth and modernise its infrastructure. This includes €1 billion to be deployed in a commercial venture to develop EuroLeague venues.
Some of this funding will be used to further Euroleague’s direct-to-consumer (DTC) ambitions. A new Euroleague ‘super app’ will rollout from next season, combining multiple services, including ticketing, merchandise and betting, into a single digital destination that will engage fans for longer and unlock new, more lucrative revenue streams.
“If you’re a basketball fan and you want to play fantasy, watch media or buy a shirt you have to go somewhere,” Bueno explained. “Even betting is important. It would be good to have a mall where you have all these [places]. We want to be the mall.
“We say that we have in Europe around 60 million fans… [hardcore fans are] around ten million. If we can have 9.99 euros from each once a month, that would be 100 euros a year, that would be one billion right there. If we have just one million that we can monetise, that’s 100 million.”
It is unclear whether live streaming and content will form part of the same proposition, either complementing or replacing traditional media rights agreements. However, it is clear that Euroleague sees untapped potential in the European basketball market and is one of the main reasons it is so opposed to fragmentation.
“The sports media market in Europe is worth €22 billion but basketball is not even two per cent of this despite ten per cent of the population being basketball fans,” he lamented. “That’s why us, the NBA, everybody sees that opportunity. We believe we should be making more.”
