The NBA organizes a European basketball league. Investors think it’s worth billions.

Decades after the NBA first gained interest in Europe, it took an important step this week in establishing a new basketball league on the continent. It has been heard by potential investors, who valued some clubs in the proposed league there for 1 billion dollars.

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In the fall of 2027, the NBA expects to open a league of 14 to 16 teams in 12 European cities. Although the NBA has been public in recent years about its desire to have a league on the other side of the Atlantic, it has had no official measure of interest on the European side. That was until this week, when potential investors had until Tuesday to submit non-binding bids.

The NBA has received multiple bids worth more than $500 million, including some reaching more than $1 billion, according to a person with knowledge of the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly. The person said more than 120 investors participated in the application process.

“The level of engagement and the scale of the bids reflect the market’s belief in our proposed model and the huge, untapped potential of European basketball,” said Mark Tatum, NBA deputy commissioner and chief operating officer, in a statement. “We will now review the bids in detail and filter out partners who share our vision and commitment to accelerating the growth of the game across the continent.”

With multiple bids in hand, the NBA now plans to select the ones it considers the best, using input from its Board of Governors. Because of that plan, it is expected that the teams playing in the European league will be announced in stages instead of all at once.

The NBA has long sought permanent stability in Europe, dating back to the 1980s and the tenure of former Commissioner David Stern. The league believes that the popularity of basketball in Europe – its data suggests there are 270 million basketball fans – is an untapped business opportunity, with major markets such as London and Rome lacking major basketball teams.

Stern pushed for NBA players to participate in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. The league has sent teams abroad to compete with European teams. Stern’s eventual successor, Adam Silver, began hosting regular-season NBA games on the continent, too, with stops in Berlin and London as recently as January.

However, the proposed league, which is also supported by FIBA, the international governing body of basketball, is not intended to function as the eastern conference of the current NBA of 30 teams, which includes its home expansion in Las Vegas and Seattle.

Instead, the NBA’s European league will be its own, separate organization, supported by 10 to 12 permanent members, with the remaining league spots won by teams that qualify for other competitions, such as European soccer. At the March meeting of the NBA’s Board of Governors, Silver said there are 12 cities targeted for the launch but did not elaborate. Currently, the league is focused on placing teams in London, Manchester, Paris, Lyon, Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Rome, Milan, Berlin, Munich, Athens and Istanbul.

That doesn’t mean the NBA and its European cousin will be completely isolated. The NBA is already looking to create tournaments that would bring NBA teams together with their European counterparts, said one person with knowledge of the plans. Tatum, the NBA’s deputy commissioner, last fall described a “preseason bowl” as one consideration in the short term.

“In five, 10 years down the line, you could see a situation where the top two winners of the European league enter the NBA Cup,” Tatum told Sports Business Journal.

The NBA’s championship season, which began in 2023, has drawn inspiration from European soccer, its popularity in the US partly fueling the league’s belief that now is the right time to launch the league on the continent. Despite the time difference, American fans have become accustomed to watching the English Premier League on weekends, and European competitions during the week.

The geographical division is also not of limited interest to the NBA from abroad. NBA stars promoted in Europe such as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic led to record NBA viewership numbers in Europe last season.

The European cities the NBA is targeting come with problems. Although Manchester and London have stadiums that can meet the league’s high standard, others may need to be repaired.

Not all cities currently have top-flight basketball clubs, either, which is why any new European league would need some clubs established from scratch.

The NBA also sought to determine whether established, elite football clubs in some of its coveted markets would be open to adding a basketball team. And while other cities have established elite clubs, they currently play in the EuroLeague, a closed league of 20 teams including powers such as Real Madrid and Barcelona.

The requests that arrived by Tuesday’s deadline follow discussions in recent weeks between the NBA and more than a dozen existing European basketball teams about possible inclusion. Those interested include teams playing in the EuroLeague, said one of the people. Under the NBA and FIBA ​​proposal, the only way a team can guarantee a permanent place in its European league would be to go through its investment process.

The NBA and EuroLeague are expected to resume talks soon that will explore potential cooperation, rather than conflict.

“I think that for the development of European basketball, the best outcome would be if we meet with the EuroLeague here and come up with a systematic way to grow the game throughout Europe,” Silver told reporters last month.

The EuroLeague had taken on a more defiant tone as the NBA’s interest in Europe became public; in January, it reportedly warned the NBA of legal action if it talks to clubs affiliated with the EuroLeague. But in March, the EuroLeague hired Chus Bueno, a new executive with a conciliatory stance. He previously served as an executive in the NBA’s league office for 12 years.

“If they raise the money, the logical thing would be a joint competition,” Bueno told Spain’s Mundo Deportivo in March. “Having two top competitions would divide the market and reduce the average level. It won’t help anyone. It’s best to do it together, even if it means compromising on both sides.”