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The NBA has received several billion-dollar bids for teams in the proposed European league, BBC Sport understands.<\/b><\/p>\n
Initial plans for ‘NBA Europe’ are for 10 to 12 franchises that would stay in the league on an annual basis.<\/p>\n
It is understood multiple bids worth between $500m and $1bn (\u00a3375m to \u00a3750m) have been made, while there are also several above the billion-dollar mark.<\/p>\n
Europe’s best teams currently compete in the EuroLeague, which was started by basketball’s international governing body Fiba but has been run by Euroleague Basketball since 2000.<\/p>\n
Mark Tatum, the NBA’s deputy commissioner and chief operating officer, said the NBA had “received significant interest from a range of prospective teams”.<\/p>\n
The league is expected to be made up of new franchises, current basketball teams and football clubs who may or may not already have associated basketball teams.<\/p>\n
More than a dozen existing teams have been in talks with the NBA, including some EuroLeague teams, sources said.<\/p>\n
EuroLeague did not comment when asked by BBC Sport about the talks, but said it is open to exploring ways to collaborate with the NBA.<\/p>\n
With a current working title of NBA Europe, the plan is to launch the new league as soon as the 2027-28 season.<\/p>\n
As many as 16 teams across the continent could be involved, with a team from both London and Manchester expected to feature.<\/p>\n
Tatum said: “The level of engagement and the scale of the bids reflect the marketplace’s belief in our proposed model and the enormous, untapped potential for European basketball. <\/p>\n
“We will now review the bids in more detail and shortlist the partners who share our vision and commitment to accelerating the growth of the game across the continent.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n