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Tatum said initial plans are for the franchises to consist of teams from the UK, France, Spain, Italy and Germany – the quintet also hold a major European prominence in football.<\/p>\n
Turkey and Greece could also have core franchises.<\/p>\n
The identities of those teams are set to be a mix of existing basketball clubs, new clubs and football teams who currently do and do not have basketball clubs aligned with them.<\/p>\n
Football teams Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich all currently have basketball teams and currently in the 2025 EuroLeague.<\/p>\n
Olympiakos, Panathinaikos, Fenerbahce, Partizan Belgarde and Red Star Belgrade also have partnering basketball teams in the competition.<\/p>\n
Currently, there are no UK-based teams in the EuroLeague and the men’s national team are currently banned from competing in international competitions by Fiba<\/a> due to governance issues.<\/p>\n Despite that, Tatum told BBC Sport: “The UK is going to play a significant role in the proposed European league. For the first time ever, [there will be] permanent franchises in the UK that will play top tier league basketball across Europe.<\/p>\n “I think that will continue to fuel the growth of basketball in the UK.”<\/p>\n London, Manchester, Paris and Berlin – the four cities to host NBA games between 2026 and 2028 – have all been identified as being among the league’s key cities to target and means franchises in all four are likely.<\/p>\n Lyon, Rome, Milan, Istanbul, Athens are also among the cities that could have franchises, as well as Madrid, Barcelona and Munich.<\/p>\n A move for English football clubs to become multi-sport are not uncommon either. Earlier this year, Nottingham Forest entered a team into the Netball Super League.<\/p>\n BBC Sport understands Manchester City have expressed an interest in having a team and early conversations with the NBA have taken place.<\/p>\n This article is the latest from BBC Sport’s Ask Me Anything<\/i><\/a> team.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n