Photo: Peter Baba

The NBA’s plans to launch a new European league continue to move forward, with the league expected to select the winning ownership groups for its 12 permanent franchises within the next 60 to 90 days.

The proposed founding cities include Rome and Milan in Italy, London and Manchester in England, Paris and Lyon in France, Madrid and Barcelona in Spain, Berlin and Munich in Germany, along with Athens and Istanbul. The league is targeting an October 2027 debut.

NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum has led the project and said the league remains focused on finding the right ownership groups before making final decisions.

“We’re on a very, very quick timeline here,” Tatum said. “We’re going to identify the right partners in the right cities, and we’re going to take as much time as we need in order to identify those right partners. We’re talking not only existing basketball teams in the ecosystem, but we’re talking to soccer teams that currently don’t have basketball teams that are interested, and we’re also talking to individuals and other entities who don’t have a basketball team but want to invest in a basketball team.”

Interest in the project has reportedly come from a variety of sources, including existing basketball clubs, major European soccer organizations, private investors, and business groups looking to enter the sport.

Looking ahead, the NBA is already exploring ways to connect the European competition with its North American league. Tatum said European teams could eventually face NBA clubs in preseason games, while future participation in the Emirates NBA Cup is also being discussed.

The league is also working on media partnerships for the competition and believes there will be significant demand from broadcasters and streaming platforms around the world.

“There has been an incredible amount of inbound interest on taking those games and distributing them not only throughout Europe but globally,” Tatum said. “We have no doubt that it will create some global interest, and therefore media partners are very interested in carrying that content.”

The NBA remains on schedule to launch its European league in 2027 as ownership and media negotiations continue.

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