Group seeks to raise US$5 billion to create global competition with advice from LeBron James’ partner
A group of investors is in the process of raising US$5 billion in private capital to create an international basketball league, with the aim of establishing a global and traveling competition, as reported by . The project seeks to adopt a model inspired by Formula 1, with matches held in two-week cycles in 8 cities around the world. Among the markets considered to host the games is Singapore.
The initiative has the support of Maverick Carter, business partner of LeBron James, star of the Los Angeles Lakers. Investment firms UPS and Evercore were hired to raise funds from wealthy individuals and institutional investors, such as sovereign wealth funds. Among the financiers already confirmed are Geoff Prentice, co-founder of Skype; Grady Burnett, former Facebook executive; and SC Holdings co-founders Jason Stein and Daniel Haimovic.
The new league will consist of 6 men’s and 6 women’s teams, with games played in a global traveling format. Despite initially being described as a possible rival to the NBA, according to Bloombergthe proposal is not to compete directly with the NBA, but to create an alternative platform, positioning itself as “a Basketball Formula 1”.
The project comes in a context of international expansion of the NBA, which recently resumed games in China and other locations outside the United States and Canada. Furthermore, FIBA (International Basketball Federation) revealed that it is in negotiations with the NBA to launch a new European league.
The new league does not yet have an official launch date. Although Maverick Carter is directly involved in the planning, LeBron James is not formally linked to the project, although his closeness to Carter has caused speculation about possible future involvement.
