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Bill Simmons shed new light on the NBA’s ongoing push to establish a European league, detailing on the latest episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast several prominent soccer clubs interested in becoming stakeholders. As the NBA continues exploring ways to expand its international footprint, Simmons pointed to expiring licensing deals and ownership shifts across Europe as key opportunities for basketball growth.
“The opportunity is that Real Madrid and FC Barcelona in the Euro League have not re-upped. They have their licensing deals expiring in 2026 and basically become free agents,” Simmons said. “Adam Silver’s been intrigued by this forever. I feel like, and there has been some reporting about this too, I feel like the league is cooling off on expansion for the NBA and kind of looking abroad at this Euro thing as a real opportunity.”
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum recently traveled to London, where they met with United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer and other international investors to discuss the potential formation of an NBA Europe league. According to Simmons, those discussions also included high-profile European football clubs.
“Adam is out there meeting with his crew with all these possible investors, with some soccer teams,” Simmons added. “Here is the opportunity. Paris, growing market with Wemby. London completely untapped… There’s these massive soccer clubs that want to grow their blueprint in basketball.”
Bill Simmons outlines European power clubs and markets targeted for NBA-backed league
Simmons said the NBA is actively pursuing Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, both of which have the option to exit the current EuroLeague system when their licensing agreements expire in 2026. He also pointed to AC Milan — owned by RedBird Capital Partners — as another club already aligned with the NBA’s vision.
“In Paris, you could have PSG, which is owned by the Qatar Sports Investments, which was reported all week that Silver met with them,” Simmons said. “Paris Basketball won the 2024 EuroCup but isn’t officially in the EuroLeague. Maybe you could add both of them.”
He also referenced the London Lions, who currently lack a permanent EuroLeague affiliation. Simmons suggested that major Premier League clubs such as Arsenal, Chelsea, or Manchester City could either acquire existing teams or launch new ones to join the proposed NBA-backed league.
“You could have one of the top, Arsenal, Chelsea — any of those — buy one of those teams and launch their own,” he added.
Simmons estimates the NBA Euro League could launch with between 8 to 12 teams, potentially including Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, AC Milan, PSG, London-based teams, Olympiacos in Greece, and Fenerbahçe in Turkey.
With the NBA’s international popularity continuing to rise and top global markets showing increased interest in basketball investment, the proposed European league could serve as the league’s most ambitious expansion project to date. If realized, it would mark a transformative chapter in the NBA’s global strategy under Silver’s leadership.
