European and global league possibilities

[Crow]

"According to sources within the EuroLeague, both Real Madrid and Fenerbahce are close to signing new 10-year licenses...:


Anonymous claims are not reliable but this is probably more likely than not.

[Crow]

"...a joint 24-team league possible"

Current Euroleague plus London, Manchester, Berlin back and Rome?

[Crow]

Bidders sign non-disclosure agreements but anonymous sources say there were a few $1 billion non-binding bids and a few more over $500 million. If you count arena investments. If you believe anonymous sources.

Are the anonymous sources NBA affiliated? Would serve them to have this said.

[Crow]

IF the NBA and Euroleague were to reach an agreement would Euroleague still be bound by current media deals? Could new media deals be layered on?

See no information or questioning on that. Absolutely fundamental.

Mainly see design / press release talking points.


Media rights interest has been briefly mentioned just once directly to my knowledge and speculated on without any confirmation another time. No indication of serious negotiations underway or even a timetable for them.

Just digital or new broadcast? Overall or by locality?

Still a thinly developed business concept in public.

[Crow]

One outlet, probably pro-Euroleague, claims not a single Euroleague team submitted a bid. Would probably cause legal and operational issues to do so. Another outlet suggests several did but without elaboration or documentation.

Where did they get in conversations?

In the end, non-binding bids mean nothing with certainty Mean something? We'll see.

What are they actually going to do?

[Crow]

120 investors "expressed interest".

How many actually submitted bids? Not seeing any such accounting.

[Crow]

A significant prospective bidder for Paris franchise did not submit a bid... but it is said they will later and that it will be recognized.

So... deadline was a timeline / exercise and not a real deadline.

[Crow]

"FIBA and the NBA plan to announce the league and its members in a rolling format over time rather than announcing the full league all at once."


Oh? Plan to do this and talk to the Euroleague about potential collaboration? Sound completely different.

Starting with? Paris? London? Rome? The highest bidder?

Presumably NBA won't disclose bids or discussions with favored bidders with Euroleague. Euroleague can be as skeptical as they want or their intelligence suggests.

How does the NBA announce the first accepted bids without clarification of the general outline? Will the first announcement of an accepted bid in a city with a Euroleague team kill any further talk of collaboration?

Where will things be in September?

[Crow]

Did anybody make a serious bid for Madrid or Barcelona or elsewhere in Spain? Who, if any, made formal bids in Germany? Did Manchester get formal bids? Bids in Turkey?

No reporting seen yet on these topics.

[Crow]

Reports, from unidentified sources, of "multiple" bids above $1 billion and "several" more from $500 million could be 4-8 such bids and perhaps mostly for 3-5 cities. If so, that would leave 7-9 cities with lesser bids or perhaps even none.

[Crow]

"Multiple sources told The Athletic that the only way for an existing EuroLeague club to secure entry into NBA Europe would be to pay the same license fee as any expansion-style bidder."


I am guessing most won't.




"A source added that some European bidders were questioning the NBA's proposed business plan."

Ah, yeah.


"sources familiar with the submissions said there was "competition across each of (the) 12 target cities from a variety of investor types," though that does not necessarily mean a team will be placed in every city."

[Crow]

Real Madrid continues to say nothing and no one in press to my knowledge said anything about them yesterday.

[Crow]

On first comments since passing of NBA Europe bid submissions, Euroleague executive makes no comments on bids. No comment whether any Euroleague teams bid. None did, doesn't know or doesn't have anything to say about it? I don't know. The potential answers are probably in declining likelihood.

Ready to seek agreement if possible.

Going to make a formal proposal? No indication. A public one? Probably not?Waiting on NBA to make a move. To have discussions.

When will they meet? How many times before any resolution?

Main issues?

Size of fees, credits for heritage,, fan bases, arenas
Proof of media revenue
League management structure- who controls?
How many teams? How many Euroleague teams?


Nothing meaningful said by NBA beyond vague satisfaction with at least some bids and moving to processing and further discussion. No designation of future dates for action.

[Crow]

"... [Euroleague] continuation could depress valuations for new NBA Europe clubs competing in the same cities."

And in general, I'd think.




"The NBA and EuroLeague are set to hold talks this week to explore collaboration on the future of European basketball."

[Crow]

"Many football-club owners are particularly concerned about the NBA's proposal to take just under half of the league's income, compared with UEFA, which takes only about 2.5% of net revenue in Europe's most lucrative football competitions."

"Another major hurdle is the lack of information over a potential broadcast deal.” European investors are also “questioning the franchise fees that would be paid to the NBA, voicing concern that a sizable proportion could end up back with the existing NBA owners rather than into the new league”


There is some talk of some generated funds being re-invested in league but apparently not enough specifics to satisfy.