Football owners lined up for UK basketball plan
By Roger Blitz, Leisure Industries Correspondent
Published: October 6 2009 03:00 | Last updated: October 6 2009 03:00
Premier League club owners could set up professional basketball teams to play in a new British league under their football brand names as part of a US-led $25m (£15.7m) plan being launched today.
US owners such as Manchester United's Glazer family, Liverpool's Tom Hicks and George Gillett, and Aston Villa's Randy Lerner are investor targets of the new British Basketball Association, led by a group of former US National Basketball Association executives and US businessmen.
The BBA said it had tried to co-operate with the British Basketball League but now intends to set up its own league - initially of eight teams in big cities playing 42 games a season - to start in November 2010.
The $25m would enable BBA clubs to pay between five and 10 times the wages paid in the BBL and to market the game in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics.
Ron Scott, chief executive of the BBA and a former Wall Street investment broker, said the UK was "the last uncharted territory" of basketball and the game was primed for the type of resurgence it experienced in Spain after the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. The BBA would at first own a majority of each club and provide working capital to help clubs market and finance their teams.
It has recruited Keith Harris, chairman of Seymour Pierce, the investment bank, and a leading football dealmaker, to approach UK investors. Other financial investors will try to woo US backers.
The launch is timed to coincide with tonight's NBA pre-season friendly between the Chicago Bulls - featuring Luol Deng, who began his career in Britain - and the Utah Jazz at the O 2 Arena in London, the third year the NBA has showcased its teams to raise its UK profile.
BBA officials yesterday met David Stern, NBA commissioner, to discuss the proposals. The NBA, which last week announced it had sold its UK TV rights to ESPN as part of its plans to expand the game in Europe, wants to establish teams in Europe within eight years . The BBL could not be contacted for comment.
FT.com / UK - Football owners lined up for UK basketball plan
By Roger Blitz, Leisure Industries Correspondent
Published: October 6 2009 03:00 | Last updated: October 6 2009 03:00
Premier League club owners could set up professional basketball teams to play in a new British league under their football brand names as part of a US-led $25m (£15.7m) plan being launched today.
US owners such as Manchester United's Glazer family, Liverpool's Tom Hicks and George Gillett, and Aston Villa's Randy Lerner are investor targets of the new British Basketball Association, led by a group of former US National Basketball Association executives and US businessmen.
The BBA said it had tried to co-operate with the British Basketball League but now intends to set up its own league - initially of eight teams in big cities playing 42 games a season - to start in November 2010.
The $25m would enable BBA clubs to pay between five and 10 times the wages paid in the BBL and to market the game in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics.
Ron Scott, chief executive of the BBA and a former Wall Street investment broker, said the UK was "the last uncharted territory" of basketball and the game was primed for the type of resurgence it experienced in Spain after the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. The BBA would at first own a majority of each club and provide working capital to help clubs market and finance their teams.
It has recruited Keith Harris, chairman of Seymour Pierce, the investment bank, and a leading football dealmaker, to approach UK investors. Other financial investors will try to woo US backers.
The launch is timed to coincide with tonight's NBA pre-season friendly between the Chicago Bulls - featuring Luol Deng, who began his career in Britain - and the Utah Jazz at the O 2 Arena in London, the third year the NBA has showcased its teams to raise its UK profile.
BBA officials yesterday met David Stern, NBA commissioner, to discuss the proposals. The NBA, which last week announced it had sold its UK TV rights to ESPN as part of its plans to expand the game in Europe, wants to establish teams in Europe within eight years . The BBL could not be contacted for comment.
FT.com / UK - Football owners lined up for UK basketball plan
