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The upstart international basketball league advised by LeBron James’s longtime business partner Maverick Carter has scored significant backing. Its investors, according to the Financial Times, include the Singapore government, SC Holdings, Riyadh’s Public Investment Fund, UBS, Skype founder Geoff Prentice, former Facebook executive Grady Burnett. VC firm Quiet Capital and tech investor Byron Deeter are reportedly raising capital. Galaxy Entertainment, which is based in Hong Kong, is also reportedly a partner.
In January, Bloomberg reported that the league was seeking $5 billion in funding to launch an international league.
Sources familiar with the new league told Front Office Sports last month that James would not be involved, and that the league has no intention of competing directly with the NBA. The league instead is aiming to be an “F1 for basketball,” making two-week stops in eight global cities. Singapore was known as a host location, and the FT report listed Macau as another host.
FT also reports the league expects to be a “full-time” responsibility, unlike Unrivaled, which happens during the WNBA offseason and lasts for just a few months. However, like Unrivaled, players would receive equity in the league.
The NBA has only a short window between its Finals in June and the start of its season in October, making any new league a potential rival. Kevin Durant’s longtime business manager Rich Kleiman said Thursday that he could see his client “potentially” joining the new league.
Wealthy investors have poured money into competing leagues across sports in recent years, but men’s basketball has seen few attempts to compete with the NBA or the EuroLeague. Unrivaled, a new women’s league, recently started in South Florida, although WNBA players can play in both leagues because of how the women’s basketball calendar is set up.
The new league is reportedly planning to include six men’s and six women’s teams.
There were barely more than 16 weeks between the end and the start of the NBA season in 2024, meaning the new league would likely overlap with the NBA calendar.
Carter and James are childhood friends, and Carter is the CEO of SpringHill, a production company he runs with James. SpringHill announced a merger last year with British production company Fulwell 73, which produces the Grammys and Keeping Up With the Kardashians.
