Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has partnered with the government of Singapore and a Macau casino operator to fund a $5 billion basketball competition to compete with the NBA. The plan is to create an international basketball circuit with six men’s teams and six women’s teams competing in eight host cities.
Maverick Carter, business partner to LeBron James, is also involved in the venture.
Those behind the new competition describe it as basketball’s answer to Formula One. One of the goals is to combine Europe's deep pool of playing talent with the many millions of basketball fans in Asia.
The men’s version of the start-up basketball competition is envisaged as a full-time endeavour, so participating teams would compete for talent with the NBA. Due to the reliance on star power, basketball is potentially vulnerable to having a few big name players join a new competition, which could significantly disrupt the NBA.