‘F1 for Basketball’: International League Effort Does Not Want to Challenge NBA

A report about an expensive effort to launch a new international basketball league made waves late Wednesday. Bloomberg reported that a group of investors advised by Maverick Carter, a childhood friend and longtime business partner of LeBron James, has tapped UBS and Evercore to raise up to $5 billion to set up a new international league “to rival the National Basketball Association,” in Bloomberg’s phrasing.

Multiple sources tell Front Office Sports that the league does not want to compete with the NBA and is aiming to be “an F1 for basketball.” 

As FOS also reported, James himself is not involved in the effort—though Carter’s role will certainly lead many to assume that James has his hands in it behind the scenes, or could eventually take an active role.

The international league, taking a page from the books of other recent shorter-season spectacles in golf, racing, and women’s basketball, plans to play its games in eight cities and spend just two weeks in each city, with Singapore on the list of destinations, FOS sources said.

The NBA’s viewership was a hotly contested topic through the first two months of this season, as the league’s TV ratings dipped by as much as 18% from last year, and 26% for ESPN games. But a very strong Christmas Day slate shrunk that deficit to 3% (and led to a 5% increase in ESPN viewership), more comparable with the 2.2% year-over-year drop also registered by the NFL this year for its regular season.