Basketball is the second-biggest sport in Europe. Yet it pulls in less than 1% of the money fans spend on sports there.
The NBA sees that gap and counts about 300 million fans it has never sold a ticket to.
The league wants to start picking team owners soon. Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum told CNBC it could name winners within 60 to 90 days.
Bids are due at the end of June. The 12 teams would land in big cities like London, Paris, Rome, Madrid, Berlin, and Istanbul.
Four more spots would open up each year. Any club from FIBA, the group that runs the sport in Europe, could grab one.
The full league is set to tip off in October 2027. That gives the winning owners little more than a year to get ready.
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Tatum wants strong operators with deep pockets. He says there are only two or three world-class arenas in all of Europe.
So new owners will have to build, not just buy. Think of it like opening a restaurant chain.
The problem is that the country has almost no kitchens.
These won't be cheap clubs to run, and Tatum knows it. The league is courting three groups at once.
It wants current basketball clubs, soccer clubs without a hoops team, and outside investors who just want in.
The big money here isn't ticket sales. It's media rights, the fees TV and streaming services pay to air the games.
Tatum says the NBA is deep in talks with possible partners. That list includes some of the biggest global streaming services.
The pitch is simple. European games would pull in fans far beyond Europe.
There's also a way to link both sides of the ocean.
At first, European teams could play U.S. and Canadian teams in the preseason. Over time, they might even meet in the Emirates NBA Cup.
That's the midseason tournament the league started in 2023.
The NBA is making the same growth case in Africa. It says its league there already adds $250 million a year to the local economy.
Eleven of the world's 20 fastest-growing economies sit in Africa. The NBA wants to plant its flag there early.
It only recently began selling those African teams to outside buyers.
Bids close at the end of June. The first team names could land within 90 days after that.
Whoever wins these 12 spots is making one big bet. They're wagering that 300 million European fans are worth building new arenas for.
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