Would the NBA's transatlantic expansion strip the soul of European basketball?

The Guardian

5 days ago

While the multibillion dollar behemoth that is the NBA means North America is basketball's powerhouse, the sport thrives in Europe where raucous crowds give the professional game across the Atlantic a compelling charisma while producing superstars such as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Victor Wembanyama, Luka Dončić and Nikola Jokić.
The character of professional basketball could be about to change though.
It's long been rumoured that the NBA has plans to expand its reach into Europe. In March, came the most concrete news yet as the NBA announced it is partnering with Fiba, basketball's global governing body, in the 'exploration of a new professional men's basketball league' in Europe.
The plan raises plenty of questions, notably what would happen to the EuroLeague, widely seen as the world's second-best men's basketball competition behind the NBA. But there are also more practical concerns, on and off the court – which rules would be used, for example? Which clubs would be involved, and will diehard European fans really support franchises fashioned out of thin air? There's also a cultural unknown underpinning all this: can the NBA's 'sports-as-entertainment-product' model work in a European system steeped in tradition and fan culture?
The current system in Europe differs from the NBA. Teams play in domestic leagues, but the elite also compete in EuroLeague, a rough equivalent of football's Champions League, albeit with a more closed structure. One EuroLeague club president tells the Guardian that 'the arrival of the NBA could pose significant challenges for European basketball, and until these issues are resolved, we may find ourselves in a state of chaos.'
And the plans sound substantial. The Fiba-NBA partnership will mean the two most powerful bodies in basketball are working together. The reported sums involved are significant too: Bloomberg reported that it may cost $500m to enter a team in the proposed league. And money is, as Silver admits, always a motivation: 'While Europe continues to develop some of the very best players in the world … we think that the commercial opportunity has not kept pace with the growth of the game,' he said in January.
'There's very, very strong interest,' George Aivazoglou, the managing director of NBA Europe-Middle East, says. 'It reinforces our thesis and our assessment of European basketball being the single biggest opportunity in global sports today.'
Those are strong words, but with little in the way of concrete proposals, uncertainty reigns and rumours swirl about the clubs that could join NBA Europe and those committed to EuroLeague. Some suggest a league could launch by the 2026-27 season, but when pushed on timelines Aivazoglou is non-committal: 'We're working that through.'
So what is the NBA proposing, and who would participate? EuroLeague giants Real Madrid and Barcelona, along with other large basketball clubs that are partnered with football teams, like Bayern Munich and Fenerbahçe, would be obvious candidates as they have established fanbases and sporting infrastructure. But new teams could be formed in European capitals like London and Paris. Football teams like Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City are said to be interested in creating basketball counterparts who can play in an NBA Europe league. Aivazoglou says 'existing brands that have a lot of value and prestige' would allow the league to 'reach and impact hundreds of thousands or millions of people.'
It appears the league would include some sort of promotion and relegation. In broad strokes, the aim is a 'single pyramid structure that is very transparent towards performance,' Aivazoglou says, because the current European landscape is 'fragmented'. Sceptics may suggest another league would only fragment that landscape further. 'At the top of that pyramid, we're thinking we want to launch with something like 16 teams, and we want this to be a semi-open league,' Aivazoglou adds. 'So we want the majority of those 16 teams, let's say 10 or 12, to be permanent franchises.'
As to who will play in the league, Aivazoglou envisages 'cities and countries and markets primarily of western Europe' with 'significant commercial potential' that are 'underrepresented.' He mentions there's 'no permanent team representing London,' in EuroLeague for example, or 'representing Paris or Rome or Berlin or Manchester.'
Aivazoglou acknowledges that there should be teams from Europe's basketball heartlands though. He mentions cities in 'southeast and eastern Europe because what maybe they don't have on par in terms of the market potential there, they overcompensate in terms of affinity for the game of basketball.' So, some sort of semi-open league led by western European capitals, with a mix of pre-existing clubs and newly created franchises? 'I can see a scenario where there's three different types of teams that come to this league,' Aivazoglou says. 'It could be existing basketball clubs … It could be existing sporting organisations that have, let's say, great football teams … And then in some cases, [it] could be completely new franchises or brands.'
Invitation into an NBA-backed league brings obvious attractions. This seems particularly true in terms of finances and TV coverage. But there are caveats. Ergin Ataman, the Panathinaikos head coach, said recently that 'the marketing power of the NBA would be beneficial for the EuroLeague … But I don't think a separate league by the NBA would work.' That view is shared by others. One EuroLeague president tells the Guardian that 'the existence of two competing leagues would inevitably harm European basketball.'
If this were the case, and Europe had rival leagues, the level of play and player pool could be diluted. What would happen to the EuroCup, a rough equivalent to football's Europa League, Fiba's own Basketball Champions League, or the domestic leagues? One wonders whether NBA-backed franchises would become so much richer than their domestic competition that they would leave those leagues altogether. Aivazoglou, however, says that 'one of the conditions that we will institute as part of this league is that the teams that participate in our league should also play in their respective domestic leagues.'
After an emergency shareholders meeting in April, EuroLeague attacked the NBA's plans as 'a threat to the longstanding traditions of European basketball.' In recent weeks, however, a more diplomatic tone has emerged. EuroLeague CEO Paulius Motiejunas now hints at cooperation: 'The only way forward, I think, is if it's together – if we sit down and figure out how to grow the basketball market.'
Aivazoglou, who has attended a EuroLeague board meeting in Istanbul and a recent general meeting with Fiba and EuroLeague representatives in Geneva, says: 'We're exploring a partnership discussion [with EuroLeague]. We're open about exploring potential partnership avenues with anyone who shares our assessment of the opportunities.'
But whatever happens on the business end, an NBA Europe league presents on-the-court questions too. Teams in Europe play under Fiba rules that differ from those in the NBA, around matters ranging from the length of games to the size of courts. Differences on goaltending and defensive three-second rules, for example, may sound like minor details but are crucial in dictating playing style, refereeing and stats.
'It will not be a huge departure [from the current rules],' says Aivazoglou. 'It's very hard for the same teams and players to be playing two fundamentally different game styles, say, on a Wednesday and then on a Saturday.' He suggests there's time to 'talk about on-court product and what we think collectively is working well versus not. And maybe there is room for some collective innovation.'
Aivazoglou insists there is room to be creative in any new league. 'The sky's the limit. This provides the opportunity to be really creative,' he says. 'It's very early, but you could see a world where some of those European league teams play with some of the NBA teams in a tournament or in a new competition.'
Innovation may be necessary. NBA ratings have been falling for some time – although that's no different from TV audiences in general – and a critic could reasonably argue they've suffered, partly, due to playing style. Though players are technically and athletically better than ever, a fixation with the three-point-shot has made the NBA more pedestrian with lots of low-stakes regular season games where star players sit out for 'load management' while bench players chuck up endless triples. Combined with a refereeing tendency to limit contact and favour offensive players, a purist may say the game has gone soft in the social media era – becoming less sport, more entertainment product.
Not that the EuroLeague is immune to quick cash-grabs or exploring commercial opportunities at the expense of fan culture. Wealthy BC Dubai look set to join an expanded EuroLeague, while the 2025 Final Four was held in Abu Dhabi for a reported €25m fee, a decision that maddened many fans. Which brings us back to the underlying cultural question here: can the American model work in Europe? If the failed NFL Europe experiment of the 1990s and 2000s is a guide, with franchises folding amid $400m losses, the generous answer is that it won't be easy. And for all the calls for NBA-style production and marketing money, the league's hyper-commercialism and endless ad-breaks – the 2025 All Star Game saw 45 minutes of play during a three-hour broadcast – mean that games stateside can feel more like commercials or social media campaigns.
That seems antithetical to a European basketball culture rooted in identity, history and tradition. EuroLeague games have the best atmosphere in basketball: it's routine to see thousands of Serbian, Greek or Turkish fans setting off flares and roaring in unison inside an intimidating, packed arena. Even Motiejunas himself sees the obstacle: 'In our culture – just like in football – you're born into it. Your father puts on the jersey for you, and that's it. You're a fan,' he said. 'You don't have to go and try to get that fan from the street, and I think that's something they're [the NBA is] missing. It's going to be difficult to do.'
This is something players are conscious of too. 'Let us work together to protect what makes the European game so special – its tradition, passion and competitiveness,' the EuroLeague Players Association stated recently. 'Most importantly, our shared focus must be on our loyal fans.'
But under the American franchise model, teams could in theory leave locations (and fans) behind entirely. While teams such as the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks are intertwined with their home cities, NBA franchises have upped sticks throughout the league's history. Contrast this to European basketball clubs such as Real Madrid and Barcelona, both founded around a century ago, or Fenerbahçe, first founded in 1913, who have remained in their cities for their entire history. These are deep-rooted cultural institutions, often with close links to football clubs and longstanding supporters associations. Panathinaikos – founded in 1919, decades before the NBA – recently sold 15,000 season tickets in 48 hours. The NBA, for its part, says it's conscious of these concerns. Aivazoglou's London-based office is 'primarily staffed by Europeans,' he says, 'so we understand those differences and those nuances very well.' As a Greek, he knows basketball is 'a religion' in some countries.
Balance will be crucial. 'We want to ensure we maintain that authenticity,' Aivazoglou says. 'But on the other hand, what the NBA has done very well … is create a game or create a brand that transcends the sport itself and touches into the multiple different facets of entertainment.' The ambition, then, seems clear: build on and better commercialise European basketball culture. 'What we're working towards is creating a hybrid, creating a balanced blend of those two parts, ensuring that we offer a very European authentic product, but also with components that expand the audience beyond just the hardcore basketball fans.'
But if you are a devoted European basketball fan, would you support a new franchise if your original club doesn't make the NBA cut? And if it does, can the club maintain its identity in an American-style league, or if the NBA relocates it for a better 'commercial opportunity' elsewhere? Aivazoglou is keen to stress that the NBA won't blindly transfer commercial structures to Europe: 'This is obviously a continent that's made up of very different countries and it's very different to the US,' he says, adding: 'I don't think anything that necessarily is happening in the US will be transferred into this European league.' But as one EuroLeague president put it to the Guardian: 'It's an open secret that the NBA prioritises capital gains over fan experience, tradition, and the unique atmosphere that only the EuroLeague can provide.'
It seems inevitable that the NBA will launch a European league. But nobody, not even the NBA, knows what the future holds. 'I'm really hopeful and optimistic that over the next few weeks and months, we'll be in a position to share even more about how that progress is developing,' Aivazoglou says. EuroLeague heavyweights are tempted by NBA benefits but many view a breakaway league as destined to fail. NBA Europe – if it happens – would offer reward but also great risk. Commercialisation, but at what cost?