NBA: What are the league’s plans to take over Europe?
Tatum said initial plans were for the franchises to consist of teams from Great Britain, France, Spain, Italy and Germany – a quintet that also has a lot of European football prominence.
Turkey and Greece could also have core franchises.
The identities of those teams should be a mix of existing basketball clubs, new clubs, and soccer teams that currently have or do not have basketball clubs to match.
Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich football teams currently have basketball teams and are currently in the Euroleague 2025.
Olympiakos, Panathinaikos, Fenerbahce, Partizan Belgrade and Crvena zvezda Belgrade also have partner basketball teams in the competition.
There are currently no UK-based teams in the Euroleague, and there is a men’s national team he is currently banned from competing in international competitions by Fiba due to management issues.
Despite this, Tatum told BBC Sport: “The UK will play a significant role in the proposed European league. For the first time ever, (there will be) permanent UK franchises playing top-flight basketball across Europe.”
“I think it will continue to drive the growth of basketball in the UK.”
London, Manchester, Paris and Berlin – the four cities that will host NBA games between 2026 and 2028 – have all been identified as among the league’s key cities to target, meaning franchises in all four are likely.
Among the cities that could have franchises are Lyon, Rome, Milan, Istanbul, Athens.
It is not uncommon for English football clubs to become multi-sport either. Earlier this year, Nottingham Forest entered a team in the Netball Super League.
BBC Sport understands that Manchester City have expressed an interest in forming a team and that early talks with the NBA have taken place.
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2025-10-24 14:48:00
