NBA reportedly scouting iconic London location for European spin-off series

The NBA is powering ahead with plans for a 16-team European competition and is considering a famous London landmark to house the capital's planned franchise.

NBA Europe is slated to begin in the autumn of 2027 and will be run as a collaboration between the NBA and FIBA, the world governing body of basketball.

The proposed format for the league is to run 12 permanent teams and have a further four qualify to participate on an annual basis.

Colossal amounts of money involved in the franchise bidding, the outcomes of which are expected to start being announced in the new few months.

12 cities were specifically targeted; Athens, Barcelona, Berlin, Istanbul, London, Lyon, Madrid, Manchester, Milan, Munich, Paris and Rome have all bid to take on a franchise along with cities that were not on the NBA's preferred list. Several of these cities are believed to have bid more than $1 billion.

According to various reports, London's bidders include a consortium fronted by former Tottenham Hotspur executive chairman Daniel Levy, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, American billionaire Nikesh Arora and Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly.

Manchester's interested parties are understood to include the owners of both Manchester United and Manchester City as well as a private equity-backed bid from Manchester Basketball.

As the eager potential owners wait to find out whether they've been successful, a resolution the small matter of where an arena-based basketball team could even play in London is apparently in motion.

One location reportedly under consideration is part of the land surrounding the iconic Battersea Power Station in the south of the city, part of which was once subject to a bid from Chelsea as the site for a new stadium built inside the footprint of the power station itself.

"Discussions have taken place between intermediaries regarding the Battersea Power Station proposals and the site is one of many locations being considered as a potential arena venue for the franchise," reports The Athletic.

"The land under consideration forms part of the wider Battersea Power Station redevelopment rather than the Grade II-listed power station building itself. One of London’s most recognisable landmarks, the former power station was decommissioned in 1983 and reopened to the public in 2022 following an eight-year restoration.

"The building now contains shops, restaurants, offices and apartments, and forms the centrepiece of a 42-acre development beside the River Thames.

"The remaining 16 acres cover phases four to seven of the development and have outline planning permission for up to 3.2 million square feet of residential, commercial, cultural and leisure space.

"No separate planning application specifically for an arena has been submitted."

NBA Europe shares some of its DNA with NFL Europe, originally the World League, which brought American football across the Atlantic to cities including London, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Berlin and Frankfurt.

London Monarchs (later England Monarchs) competed between 1991 and 1998 but were outlived by the Scottish Claymores north of the border.

NFL Europe shut down in 2007. The first NFL International Series game was played between the New York Giants and the Miami Dolphins that October.