The new NBA Europe league, which is expected to debut in the 2027-28 season, is attractive to Gerry Cardinale and RedBird Capital.
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To catch up on all of the news regarding the possibility of an AC Milan NBA franchise, we recommend that you read our recent Substack piece that summarises all of the information. Essentially, it revolves around the National Basketball Association’s plan to create a competition for European teams.
While there is already a Champions League-esque competition, namely the EuroLeague, the NBA believes it can do a whole lot better in terms of monetising and marketing the space. Cardinale, who knows American sports well, has sensed an opportunity.
Decisions to make
The owner of Milan, who is one of the promoters of the European expansion of the American league, was in London with Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the meeting a few months ago for the presentation of the project. He is already linked to the NBA, being involved in the project of the new franchise in Las Vegas.
The big doubt, as reported in the Corriere della Sera (via MilanPress), is whether the possible new franchise will involve Olimpia Milano or not. Essentially, Cardinale must think about buying the historic Milanese basketball club or creating an entirely new franchise from scratch.
Olimpia are also interested in the NBA’s project, but the entry fee of $250-300m (a figure that has not yet been decided) is turning away almost all existing basketball clubs in Europe because they cannot afford it, so this aspect also remains to be resolved.