The NBA defends its European league: “It will be a success, it will transcend Europe”
The NBA has yet to rule on the Euroleague’s current refusal of its proposal to organize a joint European league. But, yesterday, while the Euroleague member clubs deliberated at their summit, the American league defended its NBA Europe project in London.
George AivazoglouNBA General Director for Europe and the Middle East, participated in the London Invest event held in the British capital that brought together leaders from the world of sports and finance organized by Sportico.
The executive highlighted the great impact that NBA Europe can have, which will start in October 2027 whether through the Euroleague or not.
“It’s something that will be perceived as authentically European. If it’s successful, which I think it will be, it will become a global property. It will transcend Europe,” Aivazoglou said.
The NBA has already said that one of the keys for its new European league to be economically profitable is for it to be a competition with global impact that transcends its own European borders. However, it is evident that having two major brands such as Barça and real Madrid would increase that impact exponentially. For the moment, both clubs choose to stay in the Euroleague.
the bank JP Morgan Chaseadvisor to the NBA in its European project, also defended NBA Europe at this Sportico event. The largest bank in the United States was represented by Eric Menell, managing director and co-head of JP Morgan’s Media Investment Banking group.
Menell highlighted that some franchises will sell for more than 1 billion dollars in the most important markets. The executive also highlighted the conversations that the NBA maintains with important European and Euroleague soccer clubs.
The NBA said in the summer that it had offers from investors of between 500 and 1 billion for franchises in each of the 12 target cities where it wants permanent members, which are Barcelona, Madrid, Paris, Lyon, Rome, Milan, Munich, Berlin, London, Manchester, Athens and Istanbul. Even so, such offers are not yet binding.
