Report: Investors seek $5 billion to launch an international basketball league, under the guidance of Maverick Carter
The NBA could gain some international competition if a group of investors advised by Maverick Carter, LeBron James’ manager, pursue their ambitions.
Among the investors seeking to raise $5 billion to form an international basketball league are Skype co-founder Jeff 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 eventual investors could include private equity funds and sovereign wealth funds.
The league will consist of six men’s teams and six women’s teams that will play in eight cities across the world. The teams will spend two weeks in each city, including Singapore. The rotation between cities will be similar to the schedule used in Formula 1 races.
There is no intention of trying to compete with the American Professional Basketball League, but the league aspires to be “Formula 1 of basketball.” Front office sports reports. A shorter season would emulate the Formula 1 Championship, the DP World Golf Tour and projects such as Unrivaled, the women’s 3×3 basketball league that debuted on Friday. The target date for announcing the league has not yet been set.
Despite Carter’s friendship and work relationship with James, the Los Angeles Lakers star has no involvement in the league. According to reports From multiple ports.
The initiative to launch the international league comes after the return of the American Professional Basketball League to China next October with two preparatory matches for the new season. The games will be held in Macau after a five-year controversy sparked by social media posts from then-Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey regarding protests in Hong Kong against the Chinese government.
During the dispute with China, the NBA has continued to expand its international footprint with preseason games in Abu Dhabi and regular season games in Paris, which this year will be held on January 23-25. The NBA may open a regional office in the Middle East. Eastern, according to Bloomberg. Meanwhile, MLB has played games in Japan while the NFL continues to build its presence in Europe.
