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\t\tThe NBA is back in London this weekend and planning for a permament presence\t<\/p>\n
The NBA is open to sovereign wealth funds buying franchises in its proposed European basketball league, says the US sports giant\u2019s commissioner Adam Silver.<\/p>\n
Speaking in London ahead of the NBA game on Sunday<\/a> at the O2 and a presentation to potential commercial partners<\/a> the following morning, Silver said the league and its advisors were in talks with prominent family offices, private equity firms, existing European teams and football clubs who do not yet have a basketball operation.<\/p>\n Among the latter group are the owners of Paris Saint-Germain, Qatar Sports Investments<\/a>, whose Champions League-winning stewardship drew praise from Silver, his deputy Mark Tatum and the NBA\u2019s managing director of EMEA George Aivazoglou.\u00a0<\/p>\n US sports leagues have only recently relaxed rules prohibiting private equity and sovereign wealth investment<\/a> but Europe \u2013 especially in football \u2013 has been more welcoming and Silver said the NBA had not ruled out any investors.<\/p>\n \u201cWe haven\u2019t made the final determinations yet about different sources of capital, types of investments,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI would say, with an opportunity to begin a league from scratch, we\u2019re taking a fresh look. We can see, for example, on PSG, where there\u2019s already been success of sovereign wealth funds who own and operate teams, and I think there\u2019s different traditions that have grown up here.\u201d<\/p>\n Family offices eye teams in NBA Europe<\/p>\n Saudi Arabia has been rumoured to be interested in investing in a team in London, which, with Manchester, has been earmarked for a franchise in NBA Europe, a semi-open 16-team league slated to start next year<\/a>.<\/p>\n Prominent US family offices, such as owned by Mark Walter, Stan Kroenke and the Glazer family, already own Premier League football teams \u2013 in their case, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United respectively.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re talking to families that currently invest in sports, some who have not had the tradition of investing,\u201d Silver added.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn addition to talking to sovereign wealth funds, there\u2019s more traditional investment funds that have had some experience investing in sports, and then some more traditional private equity funds that see sports as an asset class.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n \t\t\tExclusive: NBA Europe to woo sponsors at swanky London summit next month<\/a><\/p>\n \t2027 start \u2018ambitious\u2019 but \u2018doable\u2019<\/p>\n Echoing comments made earlier this week in Berlin, Silver stressed that NBA Europe was a \u201conce in forever\u201d opportunity and would require patient investors who agree to reinvest any profits into growing European basketball.<\/p>\n He acknowledged that launching the league in late 2027 was an \u201cambitious\u201d target but\u00a0 \u201cdoable\u201d and said the NBA was \u201cwhere we thought we would be at this point\u201d.<\/p>\n He said NBA Europe would likely have a global streaming partner but that it would be shown on multiple broadcasters in order to maximise reach and engagement.<\/p>\n \u201cOptimising media values would be a blend of streaming parties \u2013 potentially a global one, as we have with Amazon Prime<\/a>, who\u2019s showing games in 200 countries \u2013 but partnered with local broadcasters,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI still think over-the-air television is critically important. Maybe it won\u2019t be at some point, but it\u2019s still how many people are watching our games and watching the coverage.\u201d<\/p>\n O2 likely venue for London NBA Europe team<\/p>\n A London franchise would likely play at the O2, where the Memphis Grizzlies take on Orlando Magic tonight, with Aivazoglou talking up the venue\u2019s suitability just weeks after the arena\u2019s operators told City AM they would welcome the idea<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n