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Adam Silver to pitch NBA owners on new European pro league

5 days ago
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Adam Silver to pitch NBA owners on new European pro league

“I recognize there’s enormous history and tradition here in European basketball, and we want to respect those traditions,” Silver said in Paris in January. “Obviously, the United States is used to closed leagues; Europe is used to open leagues with promotion, regulation, etc. So we’re looking at all those facets.“The process is just beginning,” one […]


“I recognize there’s enormous history and tradition here in European basketball, and we want to respect those traditions,” Silver said in Paris in January. “Obviously, the United States is used to closed leagues; Europe is used to open leagues with promotion, regulation, etc. So we’re looking at all those facets.“The process is just beginning,” one high-ranking NBA official said.

(Top photo: Stephanie Lecocq / Reuters via Imagn Images)

(Top photo: Stephanie Lecocq / Reuters via Imagn Images)

(Top photo: Stephanie Lecocq / Reuters via Imagn Images)

Silver and the NBA have been building up to this for months. He spent several days in Paris in January meeting with potential stakeholders in the league and people across European basketball. Afterward, he said the league’s March board meeting would prove decisive in the league’s path forward.For years, FIBA and the existing EuroLeague have clashed over issues ranging from the scheduling of national team events during EuroLeague seasons to how the continental league is run. Silver, meanwhile, has long been interested in European soccer and has cited an untapped marketing potential for basketball on the continent. Though the economics of European basketball are not considered to be strong, and the NBA could enter a potentially fragmented marketplace, Silver has been bullish about its chances.By Joe Vardon, Adam Crafton and Mike VorkunovThe London market, or more broadly, the United Kingdom, is another place where the NBA could attract big soccer dollars from Middle Eastern sovereign funds. Manchester City’s multibillion-dollar soccer franchise is owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, through the Abu Dhabi United Group out of the United Arab Emirates. The chairman of Manchester City is another Emirati, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, whose brother, Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, runs the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism.The Al Mubarak family has expressed interest in NBA ownership, though sovereign wealth funds currently cannot own more than 20 percent of any NBA franchise.There are no deals yet between the NBA and, well, anyone, two high-placed league officials told The Athletic. Silver is, essentially, looking for permission from his bosses (the NBA’s 30 owners) to move forward in making a new league happen.

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