The NBA is on a path toward expanding into Europe, an enterprise that will reportedly include roping in existing basketball clubs Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich as well as potentially establishing new NBA teams on the continent. The league is expected to debut as early as 2027, and has raised a question: will the powers that be to explore a WNBA Europe, too?
It looks like the answer is (tentatively) yes. While speaking at SBJ's Dealmakers conference in New York, NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum told attendees, "At some point there’s a conversation to be had" about whether it makes sense to for the WNBA to join the NBA on the same expansion path. Such a move could look a lot of different ways, and it's unclear how it would impact existing women's basketball clubs.
What to expect from NBA Europe
Much of the league appears to still be in the theoretical stage, but Tatum made it clear that there are plenty of ideas on the ground in terms of shaping what NBA Europe could be like. The league will likely be made of somewhere between 10 and 12 teams, and the NBA is hoping top clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and LDLC ASVEL will join up. The league would also play games in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and Greece and feature a so-called bridge year that would bring in teams from Lithuania, Serbia, and Croatia during its second season.
In an interview with The Athletic published November 19, Tatum did make sure to emphasize that many of the plans are still being formalized, and NBA team owners have yet to sign off on the league at all.
"There’s nothing definitive yet," he said. "We’re having conversations with lots of potential investors in the ecosystem. Those were examples of potential teams. As I said, I think the mix will be an example of existing teams in the current top-tier league, some soccer teams that don’t have a basketball club and some teams from whole cloth."
Tatum also admitted that one of the longterm goals includes the league being permanently established on the continent, though it could be some time before that comes to fruition. "In the immediate short term, you could see a competition, think about it as a preseason Cup, where NBA teams go over and play against European league teams," he said at the SBJ conference.
The league would create tournaments from those teams, he added, which could mean the Chicago Bulls or Los Angeles Lakers travel to Europe to play European teams.
WNBA Europe will likely follow the NBA Europe model
Though plans for a WNBA Europe are even more theoretical, it's likely such a league would follow the same model, and that a WNBA Europe league would have the benefit of allowing the NBA Europe league to iron out any kinks. Though the WNBA is navigating turmoil at present as leadership continues to negotiate a new CBA with the players, it's fun to imagine the Aces heading to Greece to play a team, or the Fever heading to France.