According to The Athletic, the ownership groups behind Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan, and Newcastle United are preparing binding bids for franchises in the NBA's planned European league, with a March 31st deadline for all interested investors to submit offers. The NBA Board of Governors is set to receive a full update on the project at their March 25th meeting in New York, the same session where owners will vote on domestic expansion to 32 teams with Seattle and Las Vegas. The convergence of those two votes signals how seriously the league is treating its international ambitions alongside its domestic growth.
The ownership profiles tell the story of what NBA Europe is really about. Qatar Sports Investments controls PSG; Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund controls Newcastle and is reportedly angling to build a new arena in London; RedBird Capital, which owns AC Milan, has been in direct conversations with Adam Silver for months. These are not basketball organizations making basketball decisions — they are sovereign wealth funds and global capital vehicles using the NBA brand as a gateway to new markets and asset classes. The proposed league would feature 10 to 12 permanent franchises across Paris, London, Milan, Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, Munich, Istanbul, and Athens, with four additional spots open via a merit-based qualification system borrowed from European soccer.
Franchise buy-ins are estimated at around $500 million, split 50/50 with the league. Play is targeted to begin in fall 2027, with revenues from NBA Europe potentially offsetting dilution from domestic expansion — a financial consideration the league is actively factoring against its $77 billion media rights deal. NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum has already sketched the early vision: NBA teams playing European clubs in a preseason cup in year one, with a pathway for top European finishers to enter the NBA Cup tournament within the decade.
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