Half a billion dollars is the floor. The NBA wants between $500 million and $1 billion from every team that joins its planned European league, Sports Business Journal reported on July 31, 2025, citing multiple sources.
The league treats the project as a priority. One governor told SBJ after the board of governors meetings in Las Vegas that Europe is “very high priority.” Another source said the NBA would walk away if entry fees came in below the range it wants.
Commissioner Adam Silver and Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum spent that week in Europe talking with would-be stakeholders, and banks and private equity firms were part of the conversation on valuations. Opencourt Basketball added that the pair had met clubs including Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Fenerbahce and ASVEL Basket. It named CVC, RedBird, Bridgepoint and KKR among the investment firms in the talks.
Who can afford it
Not everyone liked the number. An official from one EuroLeague club had scoffed at $500 million, and Opencourt reported that EuroLeague CEO Paulius Motiejunas warned the project could split European basketball and confuse fans with overlapping competitions.
The gap is real. SBJ said EuroLeague teams were earning roughly $100 million a year in revenue as of a year earlier. A source briefed on the plan was blunt about who could pay: “the FC Barcelonas and the PSGs and the Manchester Citys, they can do” it.
The NBA sees upside the clubs have not tapped. Sources told SBJ the league thinks EuroLeague teams are not run as high-end businesses, and that new or renovated arenas with premium seating could change the economics. The proposed league would have 16 teams.
The structure and the rival
Opencourt described a smaller first version, with 8 to 10 teams, up to four of them EuroLeague defectors and the rest new franchises in cities such as London, Paris and possibly Berlin. In that model the NBA would keep 50 percent equity and franchise owners would hold the rest. The outlet said the NBA estimates the European and Middle Eastern basketball markets could generate up to $3 billion a year.
There is a defensive motive too. SBJ’s sources linked the push to a possible rival league backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which has brought LeBron James’ business partner Maverick Carter on as an advisor. James has said he is not part of Carter’s advisory team. One NBA team executive told SBJ he believed the NBA saw that project as direct competition.
Owners also have a financial reason to like the plan. SBJ noted they would partner with the league office and could earn from NBA Europe without running its teams. Some see it as a way to avoid expanding in Seattle or Las Vegas, which would mean sharing national media rights money.
Silver had said a launch would likely be two or three years away. Opencourt reported that no formal vote had been scheduled and that a launch could come as early as 2028, the year of the Los Angeles Olympics.
Sources
- NBA Is Seeking Franchise Fees Of $500 Million Or More For NBA Europe Teams
- NBA Europe franchise fees likely to exceed $500M
