BY OSABUOHIEN IMUETINYANOSA
A group of investors are looking to create a new basketball league that will span Asia and Europe to one day rival the NBA, bringing Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and Swiss bank UBS on board as strategic partners.
Report from The Financial Times has unveiled that eight host cities has being set apart to shoulder the $5 billion basketball competition which has plans for six men’s teams and six women’s team.
Among the eight host cities, Macau and Singapore are set to be hosts, as organisers are also looking to rope in European cities.
The league has for strategy; the luring of top players all over the world, majorly in Europe. This initiative tends to be alternative to the NBA for players to watch out for.
Among Emerging organisers and investors; we have Byron Deeter and venture capital firm Quiet Capital. Meanwhile, Financial Times said Maverick Carter, NBA great LeBron James’s business partner and Skype co-founder Geoff Prentice are also on board.
“When it comes to global basketball, the opportunity is massive,” Deeter said in a statement to the media.
“There’s a huge untapped market – millions of fans outside of the U.S. who are eager for us to grow the sport at the elite level.”
Quiet Capital founder Lee Linden said they hope to deliver a global league to two billion fans.
This is one of the greatest development any sport can ever experience. It is a avenue to bring the sport into better recognition and participation.
