The NBA announced on Thursday that they will move forward with exploring the creation of a new league in Europe in partnership with FIBA. Adam Silver made the announcement following Thursday’s Board of Governors meeting.
The league could include a combination of existing teams such as Real Madrid and Barcelona along with new franchises. The NBA believes the basketball system in Europe and the Middle East could generate as much as $3 billion in annual revenue.
The new league in Europe will not involve existing NBA teams and would effectively compete against or replace Euroleague.
“The response we’ve gotten from the marketplace is very positive, whether it’s from media partners, whether it’s from fan research that we’ve done, discussions directly with FIBA, advertising agencies, and other clubs in Europe, several of them who have also been enthusiastic about the potential opportunity to better serve basketball fans in Europe,” said Silver.
“At our board meeting today, there was enthusiastic support from our club owners about continuing to explore this opportunity.”
