NBA planning European league: Clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona could be involved, exec says

The NBA's interest in expanding its global reach has been well documented, and it goes beyond just playing preseason and regular season games in various countries. Commissioner Adam Silver has talked about the possibility of starting an NBA Europe league on numerous occasions, and more information about the league's plans have been trickling out in recent weeks. 

Silver has mentioned that there's been significant ownership interest from "a lot of well known wealthy European families, American families and institutions," and with the backing of the NBA, it's certainly something that could happen in the near future. Silver previously pointed to 2027 or 2028 as a potential start date, and NBA Europe managing director George Aivazoglou said at a conference in Italy earlier this month that October 2027 is being targeted as the potential launch date for the league, according to The Associated Press. 

The current plan for the league consists of 16 teams, 12 of which would be permanent members, Aivazoglou said. Here's a list of the target countries and cities that could get teams, via the AP. Nothing has been formalized by the NBA. 

• Great Britain: London and Manchester
• France: Paris and Lyon
• Spain: Madrid and Barcelona
• Italy: Rome and Milan
• Germany: Munich and Berlin
• Greece: Athens
• Türkiye: Istanbul

The remaining four teams would qualify to join the league by winning either FIBA's Champions League, or based on their performance in their domestic leagues, Aivazoglou said. There have been no deals made with any cities or existing clubs. However, NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum did mention specific clubs that could be considered while speaking at a Sports Business Journal Dealmakers conference.

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Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich are three teams Tatum mentioned by name as clubs that could be permanent members of the NBA Europe league.

"There's nothing definitive yet," Tatum said, via The Athletic. "We're having conversations with lots of potential investors in the ecosystem. Those were examples of potential teams. As I said, I think the mix will be an example of existing teams in the current top-tier league, some soccer teams that don't have a basketball club and some teams from whole cloth."

Aivazoglou said that the first season may not feature all 16 teams as the league gets off the ground, but that is the long-term hope. Another feature under consideration with the creation of this league is having NBA teams face some of the European squads.

"One of the things that we'll do very soon after we launch this league is probably create a new tournament," Aivazoglou said.

That tournament could be similar to the FIFA World Cup, but it would differ because players wouldn't necessarily be playing for their home countries. Tatum also alluded to the two leagues playing games against each other with the NBA Cup used as the trophy they'd be fighting for.

"In the immediate short term, you could see a competition, think about it as a preseason Cup, where NBA teams go over and play against European league teams," Tatum said. "And you'd create a little tournament around that, where the Knicks and the Lakers and the Bulls go over and play PSG, Real and Man City. So that we could do year one, and I think that would be an exciting proposition. You award a cup at the end of that. Medium term — and I mean, you know, five to 10 years down the road — you could see a situation where the winners of the top two finishers in the European league, for example, get entered into the NBA Cup tournament. So now all of a sudden, you are having AC Milan and Barcelona playing in the NBA Cup tournament."

If this league were to get off the ground, it would certainly create some competition for the NBA. Silver has said in the past that he isn't concerned about losing talent to this league, but that doesn't mean it won't happen. It won't be an immediate concern, but perhaps down the line some top international players may consider staying in Europe instead of playing in the NBA in the United States.

On paper, this sounds like an exciting new venture for the league, and would be a great representation of how global the sport of basketball really is. There's a record 135 international players on NBA rosters this season, which represents roughly 30% of the total players in the league. This new league would show just how much global interest there is in basketball, and allows the NBA to expand on a level that can only be compared to soccer.