The new strategy of NBA Europe involves the major football clubs
The project is more advanced than ever, and now they have also decided to focus on the most popular sport in the world to continue.
The NBA is advancing its plans to launch a new continental basketball league in Europe and is reportedly nearing agreements with several of the continent's top football clubs. According to The New York Times, the competition seeks to leverage the economic power and brand strength of some of these entities as part of its founding members.
Joe Vardon and Matt Slater from The Athletic report that four sources with direct knowledge of the negotiations confirmed this situation. The NBA has been trying to attract some of the top European football clubs to participate in the NBA Europe project, which is set to launch next fall.
Mark Tatum participates in the European clubs conference
One sign of progress in these talks was Mark Tatum's presence at the annual conference of European football clubs organized by the EFC and Nasser Al-Khelaifi, president of Paris Saint-Germain.
Tatum, NBA deputy commissioner and Adam Silver's main representative on international matters, explained during the meeting that the American league has been looking at the European football model for years.
“We have learned a lot from European football over the years. European football represents one of the largest commercial entities globally, and we are just trying to learn as much as we can from the people in this room,” he stated.
One representative from a major football club interested in the project considered Tatum's presence at the conference a sign that negotiations are progressing.
“Obviously, they wouldn't have invited Tatum if things with the football clubs weren't moving in the right direction,” he commented during the conference held in Copenhagen.
Madrid and Barcelona among the 12 planned venues
NBA Europe plans to start with 12 founding teams and an additional four spots. The 12 main venues considered for the launch will be located in London, Paris, Rome, Milan, Berlin, Munich, Istanbul, Madrid, Athens, Barcelona, Manchester, and Lyon.
Madrid and Barcelona, therefore, are part of the group of cities that the NBA intends to include in its new continental project.
The NBA looks to European football to develop its project
During his speech, Tatum explained that the NBA has already incorporated some ideas from European football. For example, he mentioned the NBA Cup, a tournament held during the season.
“We launched a tournament during the season, the NBA Cup. That idea was taken directly from football and European sports, where these cup tournaments exist within the seasons; we asked ourselves: ‘Why can't we do the same?’ So, we applied that model to our league,” he explained.
The NBA deputy commissioner added that one of the goals of the European initiative is to bring some lessons from the football model into the project.
“I believe one of the objectives we pursue with our initiative in Europe—as I have already mentioned—is to replicate some of the great lessons derived from what you all have built here. Football is undoubtedly the most important sport in the world. European football represents one of the largest commercial entities globally, and we are simply trying to learn as much as we can from the people in this room,” he stated.
Tatum also advocated for the construction of new venues in Europe as part of the competition's development.
NBA jerseys also took inspiration from football
The American executive also used the example of advertising on NBA team jerseys, a practice that, he explained, the league took from European football.
“If Manchester United can remove its name from the jersey to place a sponsor's name, then the Chicago Bulls can certainly include a small patch on theirs. We used that example to sell the idea to NBA team owners (nine years ago),” Tatum explained.
The NBA continues to advance in preparing its European project, intending to leverage some of the continent's top football clubs, with Madrid and Barcelona among the cities considered for the launch of the new competition.
This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, La nueva estrategia de NBA Europe pasa por los grandes equipos de fútbol
