NBA owners will vote this week on a plan to launch a pro basketball in Europe. The league will have eight to 10 franchises and could have up to four spots for the best teams in EuroLeague such as Real Madrid and Olympiacos.
The league would then sell franchise in cities like London or Paris for at least $500 million. The league would sell the permanent franchise slots to outside investors, with the NBA holding 50 percent of the equity and franchise owners holding the other 50 percent. NBA officials would prefer to sell those franchises to people outside of the league, the person said, meaning sovereign wealth funds, private capital, wealthy individuals or existing European basketball clubs.
The NBA believes the basketball system in Europe and the Middle East could generate as much as $3 billion in annual revenue.