NBA to Name European League Bidders Within 90 Days; 2027 Start Remains Target

The NBA plans to name winning bidders for 12 permanent European teams in the next 60 to 90 days, Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum said in an exclusive CNBC interview. Bids are due at the end of June. The 12 teams will be based in Rome, Milan, London, Manchester, Paris, Lyon, Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, Munich, Athens and Istanbul.

Four additional rotating clubs will be open each year to any FIBA-affiliated team in Europe, selected on performance. The European league remains on track to begin play in October 2027. Tatum said the league is seeking "great operators" who will invest in new stadiums, noting there are only "two to three world-class" basketball arenas in all of Europe.

"We're on a very, very quick timeline here," Tatum said. "We're going to identify the right partners in the right cities, and we're going to take as much time as we need in order to identify those right partners. " He estimated the continent has about 300 million basketball fans.

and Canada-based clubs. Over time, teams from both leagues could meet in the Emirates Cup, the midseason tournament introduced in 2023. NBA officials are holding "a ton" of conversations with potential media partners, including "some of the big global streaming partners," Tatum said.

"There has been an incredible amount of inbound interest on taking those games and distributing them not only throughout Europe but globally," he added. " Tatum also discussed the Basketball Africa League, which has operated for six seasons. The NBA has only recently begun selling individual BAL teams to investors.

4 billion by 2034. "Eleven of the top 20 fastest growing economies in the world are in Africa, and Africa is expected to account for more than 40% of the world's youth in the next five years," Tatum said.