The NBA might face its first competition as the premier basketball league in the world since the ABA dissolved in the 1970s. Bloomberg is reporting that LeBron James‘ business partner and friend, Maverick Carter, is trying to raise $5 billion to create an international basketball league that rivals the NBA.
“A group of investors being advised by Maverick Carter, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James’ business partner, is seeking to raise $5 billion from private capital sources to form an international basketball league to rival the National Basketball Association, according to people familiar with the matter.”
The sources of investment could blow the NBA out of the water. It’s being reported that Carter could even pique the interest of sovereign wealth funds in making this project a reality.
“UBS Group AG and Evercore Inc. have been tapped to help raise the money, which may come from wealthy individuals and institutional investors such as sovereign wealth funds, according to people who asked to not be identified as the information is private. Other backers include Skype co-founder Geoff Prentice, former Facebook executive Grady Burnett, and the investment firm SC Holdings, which is led by co-founders Jason Stein and Daniel Haimovic.”
More details about the league’s format were revealed, with the hope that it can be packaged similarly to the spectacle of Formula 1 races.
“The league will comprise six men’s and six women’s teams, with games played in eight cities around the world with two weeks in each city, the people said. The global rotation is modeled on a similar schedule to that of Formula 1 races. Singapore is one of the markets where games will be played.”
This is a massive development for the overall health of global basketball. We have nationally centralized leagues all over the world, with the American NBA widely considered the pinnacle. European basketball is primarily played within national leagues while also having a team-based competition bringing the best of Europe against each other.
If a new league marries the rules of the NBA and FIBA to create a more engaging product for fans, it would be a legitimate disruptor. But that sort of a goal is decades removed from reality, so a lot of small steps will need to be made by Carter and whoever the billionaires supporting this idea are.
LeBron likely won’t be involved in the formation of a rival to the NBA, given his intention of one day owning an NBA team. James could also reportedly be backed by sovereign wealth funds when the time to bid on an NBA team comes, so it’ll be fascinating to see if Maverick secures their funding for a rival league before James can do so for an NBA team.
The logistics behind forming a rival league will be insane. Will NBA players be allowed to participate? Will the league play its games over the summer to not conflict with the regular schedules of players around the world? We’re seeing similar developments in women’s basketball with the formation of the ‘Unrivaled’ basketball league. However, it’s an off-season league that serves a purpose for the players as their WNBA salaries are a fraction of what NBA players make.
NBA stars on max contracts are the most popular players in the world and they make way too much money to endanger themselves by playing in a new league in the summer. The formation of this league is going to be way harder than many anticipate, but it could be a good thing for basketball as a whole.
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