Former EuroLeague Executive Targets London Franchise for NBA Europe
Glickman leads London bid
Marshall Glickman, a longtime EuroLeague advisor and former NBA executive, is leading a group hoping to bring an NBA Europe franchise to London. Investors have been invited to submit non-binding bids ahead of the end-of-March deadline, and the new competition is scheduled to kick off in October 2027.
Glickman brings significant experience to the project. He’s previously served as president of the Portland Trail Blazers and the Oregon Arena Corporation, held roles in NBA media and rights, and spent many years advising in European basketball. His company recently took over operations of the British domestic league for a multi-year term, and now he’s aiming to take the next step by owning a club in the continent-wide NBA competition.
The London proposal could face local competition: other investors, including owners of the Newcastle football club, are reported to be interested in building an arena in the city and launching a team of their own.
What the new league looks like
The NBA is planning a model with a limited number of permanent licenses — roughly a dozen — and has indicated prospective owners would contribute large sums to join, with reported ranges in the high hundreds of millions to around a billion dollars. Cities being mentioned as potential homes include London, Manchester, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, Berlin and Athens.
To balance long-term stability with competitive opportunity, the league intends to reserve a portion of places for teams that qualify on merit. For the first season, several open spots will be awarded to top performers from other European competitions and end-of-season qualifying tournaments.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver has also spoken about the benefits of greater cooperation across European basketball, suggesting that closer ties between the NBA and existing continental competitions would serve the sport well.
With the bid deadline approaching and plenty of money and ambition behind several groups, the race for a London franchise is shaping up to be one of the more interesting storylines as NBA Europe takes shape.
