Football Clubs Block NBA's European Entry: "They Want to Plunder Us Like Trump Did Venezuela"

Despite interest in participation, owners of some of these teams, backed by entities like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, or Fenerbahçe, as well as others with strong ties to multi-sport football club structures such as Olympiacos, Panathinaikos, or Crvena Zvezda, are re-evaluating the proposed economic terms. According to MARCA, neither Bayern, PSG, nor Manchester City ultimately submitted an offer to the NBA. Real Madrid could find itself isolated in a kind of Super League lacking any sporting interest (which its main fan groups have already publicly rejected) or economic viability, as reported by "Bloomberg".

Just this Thursday, during the EuroLeague match between Fenerbahçe and Real Madrid, the new EuroLeague CEO, Chus Bueno, was seen courtside alongside Sadettin Saran, Fenerbahçe's president, George Aivazoglou, NBA's Director for Europe and the Middle East, and Carlos Ocaña, assistant general manager of Real Madrid (to José Ángel Sánchez) and a trusted confidant of Florentino Pérez.

The NBA-EuroLeague conflict was palpable in Istanbul. While several owners expressed interest in acquiring stakes in teams for the new NBA league, they also voiced disagreement with some of the proposed terms and questioned the lack of detail before being asked to submit bids, according to these sources, who requested anonymity from Bloomberg due to the private nature of the information.

The primary point of contention is revenue distribution: the NBA aims to retain nearly 45%, a figure significantly higher than what UEFA keeps from its competitions. However, the distrust isn't limited to money. Clubs criticize the project's lack of transparency, with scarce details on crucial aspects.

These clubs fault the NBA for the absence of information on what they consider fundamental issues, such as broadcasting rights or initial financial sustainability. The projection of losses in the early years amplifies skepticism within an ecosystem where both football and European basketball often already operate with negative margins.

Concerns also arise regarding the fate of entry fees: European investors fear that a significant portion will ultimately benefit current NBA team owners, rather than fostering the new competition. Adding to this is the rigidity of the process, which forces early commitments under the threat of higher costs in the future.

Driven by Commissioner Adam Silver, the project aims to create a 12-franchise league with multi-million dollar valuations. However, despite institutional support from FIBA and optimism expressed by executives like Mark Tatum, the initiative faces a critical hurdle: convincing European clubs who, for now, do not fully trust the proposed model.

Many European clubs are taken aback by the conditions the NBA is demanding for its entry into Europe, which they consider completely unacceptable. They are being asked for enormous sums of money to be part of this new competition, almost a "blank check," while NBA owners, already billionaires, would take at least 45% of the profits.

Many clubs believe the NBA is not coming to Europe to help, but to exploit (plunder), and they consider this unacceptable. "I come to your land and take it from you, tomorrow you pay me 500 million for your land, and 45% of what your land produces goes to us," comments one official from these clubs, going so far as to call it as scandalous as "Trump's plunder of Venezuelan oil."