NBA Europe unveils more plans as European Parliament questions American commercialisation

The NBA has revealed its European league will feature 16 teams intending to launch in October 2027, with London and Manchester tipped for permanent franchises – but could face an unexpected challenge from European politicians concerned about American commercialisation of continental sport.

George Aivazoglou, the NBA’s General Manager for Europe and the Middle East, outlined the competition structure in an interview with L’Équipe this week (via BasketNews), confirming 12 permanent franchises and four qualifying spots earned through competitions like FIBA’s Basketball Champions League.

“We want to create a pyramid system, similar to football’s Champions League and Europa League,” Aivazoglou said. “We want dreams and Cinderella stories, like Leicester City winning the Premier League in 2016, to still be possible.”

Games will likely follow “European rules, since teams will continue to play in their national leagues,” with a round-robin format followed by playoffs.

However, just one day after Aivazoglou’s interview, the European Parliament adopted a resolution that appears to target competitions exactly like NBA Europe.

As first reported by Spanish outlet La Vanguardia, the resolution on “The role of EU policies in shaping the European sports model” passed with 552 votes and calls on the European Commission to “use all the instruments at its disposal to safeguard the European sports ecosystem against initiatives that seek to transfer its value outside the continent.”

“European sport must serve society, not the profits of a few,” the text states, warning against “excessive commercialisation, pure-profit entertainment ownership models and competitions” that undermine “competitive balance and integrity.”

Rapporteur Bogdan Andrzej Zdrojewski, a Polish MEP, said in the debate: “European sport must remain anchored in the community, not subordinated to corporate structures alien to our legal and cultural framework.”

While Austrian MEP Hannes Heide specifically warned of the risks of “organising competitions from outside the Union,” and German MEP Rasmus Andresen questioned whether “Europe wants a sporting model governed by values or by financial statements.”

The Parliament urged the Commission to “actively monitor and address threats, at all levels, to the values-based European Sport Model, including breakaway competitions that endanger the overall sports ecosystem.” It also stressed “the need to protect the vertical nature of the European Sport Model, whereby promotion and relegation take place at national level, and annual performance in domestic leagues is the sole criterion for qualification to European competitions.”

The NBA’s approach – selling permanent franchise slots reportedly for at least $500 million each to investors including sovereign wealth funds and private equity firms – sits uncomfortably with those principles, despite the four qualifying spots designed to preserve meritocracy.

However, according to a source familiar with the NBA’s position, no change to law is currently in motion, while the NBA Europe League is expected to “be fully supported by, and compliant with, all local and regional laws and regulations”.

For British basketball, the stakes are particularly high. GBBL confirmed last month it’s delaying launch until September 2027 to align with NBA Europe, stating “two NBA Europe teams – based in London and Manchester – are expected to compete in GBBL’s new league.”

But GBBL doesn’t currently have any clubs, let alone a league. The existing Super League Basketball – the consortium of nine clubs that helped save the men’s top flight in 2024 – is unsanctioned but already operating and has taken the British Basketball Federation to court over what it claims was an illegal tender process that awarded GBBL the licence.

The impending arrival of NBA Europe has made the SLB-BBF dispute have more far ranging implications outside of just a domestic dispute.

Aivazoglou has confirmed franchises “will continue to play in their national leagues,” meaning the NBA and FIBA need a functional, legitimate domestic competition for their UK franchises to join.

The crucial question: will NBA Europe’s London and Manchester teams play in GBBL’s yet-to-launch league, or in the existing SLB competition? That decision will have huge impact on the future of either competition.

The urgency became apparent last week when FIBA’s specially commissioned taskforce flew to London, as first reported by the Yorkshire Post.

The three-man panel – Jorge Garbajosa (FIBA vice president and FIBA Europe president), Kamil Novak (FIBA executive director Europe) and Zoran Radovic (FIBA senior director) – met with both BBF and SLB at a Heathrow hotel, as well as holding two separate meetings with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Results of their meetings are still to be confirmed, but Hoopsfix understands that banning the Great Britain national teams from FIBA competitions until the dispute is resolved – as they did with Japan in 2014 – is being considered an option.

Despite the complications, momentum behind NBA Europe continues to build.