We sit on the eve of war

While the NBA remains low on detail on what NBA Europe will entail, Adam Silver has shown on this trip to the continent that he isn’t underestimating the scale of the project. With details expected to flow in the coming days and weeks, Emmet Ryan on the incoming schism in European basketball.

Adam Silver got criticised heavily online, including from me, following his press conference in Berlin on Friday. His choice of terminology proved the root of the ire. Listening to his comments in context however paints a bigger picture. The schism in European basketball is imminent. What it will entail remains the mystery.

Words matter

Let’s get to those criticisms first. Adam Silver had a couple of less than ideal choices of phrase during his press conference on Friday. Calling EuroBasket ‘Eurocup’ wasn’t ideal but forgivable.

Then there was his misunderstanding of how start-ups work: “The funding will come from, at least initially, the member clubs of the league. I think, similar to any start-up venture, the participants would be the investors and, over time, hope to seek a return.”

With just the 20 or so years of covering start-up investment as experience, I feel it relevant to say that’s not how the overwhelming majority of start-ups work. Of course, that wasn’t the biggest verbal misstep.

No, that was one line “We are, in many ways, a sport entertainment product.” Given WWE refers to itself as sports entertainment that’s bad. Add on that European fans are in arms about the potential diminishment of basketball culture here, and it’s rather awful. Here’s the thing though…

His context was telling

What Silver said prior to that howler of a line was far smarter and is very relevant. It was in response to a question about potential legal action from Euroleague and a clash between the leagues. “I don’t think it’s inevitable that there’s a clash. There’s an opportunity to grow European basketball,” said Silver.

“I’m much more focused not just on other sports in Europe but other entertainment options. That’s how we view the NBA. We’re competing for people’s attention.” I have been critical of the awareness of those involved in NBA Europe of the scale of the challenge ahead of them.

Silver acknowledging that, especially in large cities, that the contest for attention expands beyond sports is wholly correct. He’s what he said after the clanger line. “If I thought the ceiling was the existing Euroleague fan interest, we wouldn’t spend the kind of time and attention we are on this project.”

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NBA Europe has already had a reality check

When the first discussions of NBA Europe started, Berlin was a target market. That Alba Berlin would be the target club was less obvious. That view has clearly changed. “I’m very familiar with Alba Berlin. To me they are an exemplar of how a top tier club should be run and organised,” said Silver. “They are the model of the type of club we would like to see.”

A day later The Athletic ran a piece espousing the virtues of Alba. The timing made sense as they are a fine example and the NBA was in their home gym. More relevantly, it was hammering home the point that the NBA gets that Berlin is a market with unique challenges. Alba’s success may not be enormous in pan-European competitions but in market impact it has done stupendously well.

This also raises questions about the Paris situation. According to L’Équipe the NBA remains focused on PSG as its partner rather than Paris Basketball. This may trigger some form of alliance between the latter and Paris FC, which is majority owned by the Arnault family (of LVMH wealth) with a minority stake held by Red Bull.

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Aware of the scale

Adam Silver, while light on detail, didn’t shy away from the scale of the challenge. “It will take a while before it [NBA Europe] is a viable commercial entity…if we are to move forward, we’re going to have to do an enormous amount of hiring. This is an enormous undertaking, that’s why we’re moving one step at a time and making sure we cover all of our bases,” he said.

“There are no shortcuts. This is something that will be multi-decades in the making.” With those statements, Silver not only showed far more open awareness of what is required than anyone backing the project has to date but also indicated the big advantage he plans to leverage.

Neither FIBA nor Euroleague nor both combined can hire at the scale and rate required for such a project. The NBA can. It has the coffers and it is clearly open to planning its investments on a long-term return strategy. To be a profitable entity long-term, NBA Europe needs to spend a lot early on people to do the boring stuff that isn’t basketball.

So, yes, this is going to be a fight

The NBA Europe project has some notable hurdles to scale before even considering Euroleague’s clear willingness to fight. There seem certain to be cities without established top level basketball clubs involved. Some of these have notable questions around infrastructure availability. By their very nature, these cities will be harder to win in as essentially new teams will have to win a fanbase.

With those in established basketball markets, there’s an expectation of revenue support from outside that needs to be won despite Silver’s interesting thoughts on start-up financing. With Euroleague fighting hard to win over teams and having impressive crowds in recent seasons, the price of the campaign for the NBA Europe side of the fight will only increase.

At least one repeat of the 2000/01 situation where there was both Euroleague and the SuproLeague seems inevitable. That most violent example of the schism at least only lasted a year, although its impact remains decades on. With the NBA expected to make landfall in 18 months, this could be a drawn out fight that will reshape the sport on the continent for decades to come.

Indeed, its impact may extend beyond Europe given the focus on Middle Eastern investment. That is a story for another day. For now we await some enormous days and weeks in the sport.

A few notes

Silver deliberately didn’t call the league NBA Europe, repeatedly referring to it as a “potential European league.” That may indicate the name we at large have given the project may not end up being the name of the competition.

Silver also mentioned the desire to eventually do a women’s league. In related news, a column series on why WNBA Europe makes more sense than NBA Europe is on the agenda for this site in the coming months. It’ll be business heavy in focus, so prepare to be bored.

Lastly, if you haven’t been following Aris Barkas on Eurohoops and his coverage on this, change that now. He has been simply brilliant in his work throughout.

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