The NBA and FIBA plan to launch a pan-European league in time for the 2026/27 season. The idea is as ambitious as it is unprecedented. Both organisations are betting on a belief in basketball’s untapped commercial potential on the continent. Emmet Ryan on just how expensive it is going to be for NBA Europe to have any hope of succeeding.
The proposed NBA Europe aims to rival – or replace – Euroleague as Europe’s top-tier competition. Behind the optimism lies a daunting financial landscape. This opening article in our five-part series explores the scale of the opportunity, the capital required, and the risks investors, teams, and the NBA itself are taking on in pursuit of a multi-billion dollar, or euro, dream.
A big dream
The NBA and FIBA are quite bullish about the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) market for basketball. That’s why the NBA is involved in the Basketball Africa League and why it wants to be part of the game’s financial growth in Europe.
The two bodies believe the combined market could be worth $3 billion (€2.8 billion) annually. Understandably, with so much to potentially gain, the NBA wants to share more directly in the economics of the game’s growth in Europe.
The proposed NBA Europe league will start with 16 teams. Of these 12 will be permanent franchise holders while the remaining 4 spots will be available to qualifiers. This maintains the NBA’s US sports ideals of consistent franchises while enabling FIBA’s preference for league’s to be partially open.
The plan is for the NBA itself to retain 50 per cent ownership, with the other half sold to private investors, clubs, or funds. Indeed, a mix of all three in some ownership situations wouldn’t be a surprise. The key thing from this investment situation however is that the NBA expects to generate revenue for its own coffers from day one.
The Franchise Price Problem
The price tags on franchises have yet to be set but they are expected to be high. Major cities, such as London or Paris, may go for as much as $500 million according to reports.
Now it is likely to be lower in markets that don’t share the economic might of those two cities but it’s still asking a lot. If projected revenue doesn’t materialise quickly, or at least within the timeframe the NBA and FIBA pitches to investors, they may feel they have overpaid.
The capital costs will go beyond simply the franchise fee. The NBA has been clear that it wants state of the art venues across Europe. For many potential suitors, that is going to require a new stadium. The access to sufficiently large and sufficiently modern (i.e. capable of maximising gameday revenue) in Europe varies wildly. Paris, for example, could argue it fits the modern criteria but size might well be an issue.
Then there are the operating costs. Getting to NBA-level production standards will require investment in the existing arena infrastructure. The need for marketing investment will be enormous. As a whole, operating costs for NBA Europe project to be much greater than any level of basketball in Europe right now. This includes expected higher salaries and a great focus on international travel than even Euroleague.
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More Than Just Tickets
NBA Europe, at least the NBA and FIBA believes, has the potential to unlock lucrative broadcast rights across multiple countries. It could draw in sponsorship deals from global brands. The goal would be to have not just partners that can provide higher revenue but also have larger marketing budgets. We’re talking the household names that will spend to take advantage of a sponsorship.
The goal of co-branding with football clubs is hardly new in Europe. A look at the current Euroleague standings shows all of the top 5 and 9 of the top 11 teams in the competition share a fanbase with football clubs. The idea of attracting PSG, which has a handball division, or Manchester City to get their fanbases is naturally intriguing. The problem is that for either of these to firmly commit, they need to see clear stakeholder benefit.
While for Arsenal, not a team rumoured, that would be the harder bar of generating revenue to go back into football, it’s a little easier with City or PSG. Their owners have agendas beyond direct revenue generation, at least in the near term, but will still only invest in projects that align with their goals.
That’s why the NBA brand is so important here. FIBA, for all its critics, has some smart people. It knows the NBA is the biggest brand in basketball. That offers the potential to attract more casual fans to NBA Europe. That is also where the two organisations would be wise not to overplay their hand.
The NFL learned the hard way that European fans won’t show up for, or spend money on, an inferior product.
Those who came before them
In 1995, the NFL launched NFL Europe amidst great fanfare. Teams in Amsterdam, London, Barcelona, and oh so many in Germany joined the competition. It rumbled on until 2007 when, after roughly $400 million in accumulated losses (over $600 million today), it shuttered. The competition never caught on. The NFL had fans in Europe but they were fans of the real NFL. They didn’t want a watered down version.
That is the obvious fear with NBA Europe. Granted, basketball is far more established than gridiron on the continent but that’s a double edged sword. So too is the greater access to actual NBA basketball for European fans today.
The Boston Celtics recently set a record for the highest sale of a sports team ever, which says a lot about the current value of NBA teams. Roughly speaking, the average value of a NBA franchise is around $4 billion. It’s harder to gauge for Euroleague clubs due to different ownership structures but, realistically, these entities might do well to take in between €50 million and €200 million on the open market. Even then, few of them are cash positive.
Fans in Europe know what top European basketball is. These core audiences will expect NBA Europe to be of a much higher standard than what is out there now. That’s difficult considering how, on a competitive level, small the gap to NBA level from the highest quality teams in Europe is.
The Washington Wizards aren’t selling out anywhere in Europe, so it would be tough to convince fans to pay more than they currently do for a team that’s meant to be worse than them.
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The European Law Problem
While this is primarily an introductory piece to the series, it would be rude to leave you all without a whopper to ponder. The vision for NBA Europe includes a salary cap. Implementing that in Europe is complex, at best.
For starters, there’s the amount. While Euroleague is introducing a sort of cap it’s not really one in the legal sense. Teams will have to pay a luxury tax if they go over certain thresholds but the top sides can still aim to spend €20 million a season on salaries. NBA Europe would have to at least be close to that across the board, no less than €15 million on a soft cap going up to €20 million and, realistically, €25 million in its tax thresholds.
Of course, European Union competition law prohibits hard salary caps unless agreed upon by all stakeholders and structured as a fairness mechanism. Those stakeholders include the players and EU labour laws are not for the faint hearted.
It’s not just the EU of course and that adds another element to matters. Tax inequality across countries in Europe is far greater than in the US. A €1 million salary in Paris is more than halved with tax. Yet in Istanbul the player would likely only lose a third to tax, while in Belgrade they might only pay a quarter. Furthermore, the non-EU states involved have far more lax rules to observe on state aid. Some form of net salary rules or tax equalisation would likely be required from the start.
If not, salaries could become a flashpoint that shifts the balance of power in NBA Europe before it begins. Of course, for it to begin it must reckon with what’s already there. That will be tomorrow’s focus.
The NBA and FIBA plan on launching a European league in 2026 — but can it really work? In this five-part series, we dive into the financial gamble, the structural chaos, the club politics, the media game, and the cultural fight for basketball’s soul. From billion-dollar ambitions to legal landmines and fan resistance, NBA Europe: The Grand Experiment breaks down the biggest shake-up in European hoops in decades.
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