The National Basketball Association is preparing to pitch investors on a new European league, targeting team valuations of up to $1 billion, as it readies a pair of regular season games in London and Berlin.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver will attend a pair of regular season games in London and Berlin starting Thursday between the Memphis Grizzlies and the Orlando Magic. Both cities are likely to host a team in a league that could debut as early as next year, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the information is private.  

The NBA will also open its data room for the planned European league to investors in the coming days, including financial projections, the people said. The project would include 12 franchises and four additional teams that qualify for the competition without owning equity, while the NBA would retain a 50 percent stake in the new league.

FIBA, the world governing body for basketball, will have a stake in the new league, along with the team owners, one of the people said.

The NBA will also hold a private conference in London to meet potential sponsors, media partners and investors in mid-January, according to people familiar with the situation. Existing NBA owners have also expressed interest in buying stakes in European teams and the league, the people added. NBA rules currently prohibit the ownership of more than one team.

“We’re casting a very, very wide net right now and essentially saying to anyone who’s interested, come see our bankers,” Silver said in December. “Explain to us why you’re interested, how you view the opportunity, what resources you would put behind opening a team.”

A spokesperson for FIBA said the new league will be a joint project with the NBA, while declining to comment on the valuation of potential franchises. In March last year, Silver said it was considering a model in which NBA owners could participate as collective owners in the new league, but not owners of individual clubs.

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The NBA is being advised by JPMorgan Chase & Co and the Raine Group.

The lofty valuations could place the teams among the most expensive sporting assets in Europe, topped only by around two dozen football clubs and Formula 1 teams, even though basketball has a much smaller audience than those sports on the continent. The NBA’s strong brand and Europe’s existing infrastructure could help create a popular league based in its major cities, the league has argued.

The NBA may not require investors to commit large amounts of cash up front and the league is considering allowing them to buy in over a number of years, the people said. Nothing has been finalized and financing and ownership options for potential teams remain under discussion.

American leagues are increasingly looking to Europe, with its developed sports infrastructure and wealthy population, for growth. The National Football League played a record six games there during the 2025 season, and Commissioner Roger Goodell has said a London-based team is possible.

Breaking into Europe has become one of Silver’s flagship goals during his tenure. There has been at least one regular season game in Paris in each of the last three seasons. In March last year, Silver held a press conference with Andreas Zagklis, the secretary-general of FIBA, where they outlined a vision for a new league.

The NBA has held early-stage discussions with a number of football club owners, including Paris Saint Germain and Manchester City, about potential investment, Bloomberg reported earlier. Other clubs, such as Bayern Munich, already have basketball teams attached to them.

Basketball is popular in Europe, especially in Greece, Spain and the Balkans. A record 71 European players were on NBA rosters at the beginning of the current season, or about one in six players, including three-time Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic, two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, and All-Star Victor Wembanyama.

A potential obstacle is EuroLeague, the continent’s 20-team incumbent that is the highest level basketball league in the world after the NBA. The pan-European competition features Europe’s biggest basketball brands, including Real Madrid and Barcelona.

EuroLeague extended its partnership with global sports marketing firm IMG last year, giving the agency media rights distribution for the next decade, in a sign that most of the club-owned league’s shareholders back the status quo.

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The NBA could face political resistance in Europe, where national sport federations are powerful and politicians often support a structure where teams can be promoted or relegated between leagues.

Countries including Italy and France spoke out against the NBA’s plans at a November meeting of European Union sports ministers in Brussels, Politico reported last month.

Nine of EuroLeague’s 13 permanent clubs have extended their licenses for ten years starting next season. Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Fenerbahce and LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne, owned by NBA Hall of Fame point guard Tony Parker, haven’t yet.

“The remaining clubs have not communicated any decisions yet, but we are confident that they will commit,” EuroLeague Basketball Chief Executive Officer Paulius Motiejunas said in a statement to Bloomberg. “These teams will want to be owners of the bright future that awaits the EuroLeague rather than becoming someone else’s franchise.”