The NBA could have some international competition if a group of investors advised by Maverick Carter, LeBron James’ business director, fulfill their ambitions.
Investors seeking to raise $5 billion to form an international basketball league include Skype co-founder Geoff Prentice, investment group SC Holdings and former Facebook executive Grady Burnett. Bloomberg Reports. The group is led by UBS Group AG and Evercore Inc., and investors could eventually include private equity funds and sovereign wealth funds.
The league would be made up of six men’s and six women’s teams playing in eight cities around the world. The teams would spend two weeks in each city, one of which would be mentioned in Singapore. The rotation between cities would be similar to the calendar used for Formula 1 races.
There is no intention of trying to compete with the NBA, but the league aspires to be “an F1 for basketball.” Front Office Sports reports. The shortened season would emulate F1, golf’s DP World Tour and companies like Unrivaled, the 3×3 women’s basketball league debuting Friday. A target date for announcing the league has not yet been decided.
Despite Carter’s friendship and business relationship with James, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar has no involvement in the league. according to reports from multiple points of sale.
The initiative to launch the international league would occur after the NBA returns to China next October with two preseason games. The games will be played in Macau after a five-year controversy sparked by social media posts by then-Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey about protests in Hong Kong against the Chinese government.
During the dispute with China, the NBA continued to expand its international presence with preseason games in Abu Dhabi and regular season matchups in Paris. The NBA could open a regional office in the Middle East, according to Bloomberg. Meanwhile, the MLB has played games in Japan while the NFL continues to build a presence in Europe.