A group of investors advised by Maverick Carter, LeBron James’ business partner, is seeking to raise $5 billion to form a basketball league
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Investors Seek $5 Billion to Form Basketball League to Rival NBA
Gillian Tan, Matthew Monks and Michelle F. Davis
Wed, January 15, 2025 at 8:26 PM EST 1 min read
(Bloomberg) -- A group of investors being advised by Maverick Carter, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James’ business partner, is seeking to raise $5 billion from private capital sources to form an international basketball league to rival the National Basketball Association, according to people familiar with the matter.
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Other backers include Skype co-founder Geoff Prentice, former Facebook executive Grady Burnett, and the investment firm SC Holdings, which is led by co-founders Jason Stein and Daniel Haimovic.
Representatives for Carter, UBS, SC Holdings, Prentice and Burnett declined to comment. Evercore didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The league will comprise six men’s and six women’s teams, with games played in eight cities around the world with two weeks in each city, the people said. The global rotation is modeled on a similar schedule to that of Formula 1 races. Singapore is one of the markets where games will be played.
The new league’s backers face challenges. Other startups, such as ones trying to compete with the National Football League, have struggled in the past.
Trying to create leverage to get in on the Las Vegas or Seattle NBA franchises.
I understand that’s all well and good, but can they pursue other business ventures to compete with companies like Boeing, Airbus, Tesla, Nvidia, and so on? Mother fuck a sports leagues.
They can do the same thing that Musk when he purchased Tesla, because he wasn’t the original founder.
They can do the same thing that Musk when he purchased Tesla, because he wasn’t the original founder.
They may not have the connections to thrive there. NBA and DoD are 2 different type of black books.
Good luck on that, I don't see them beating the NBA with a international league, especially with the NBA bringing in Billions.
I hope I'm wrong though.
Watching the Olympics there's a lot of good international basketball teams out there already.
The UFL seems to have some success but it will never be on the same level with the NFL.
I hope I'm wrong though.
Watching the Olympics there's a lot of good international basketball teams out there already.
The UFL seems to have some success but it will never be on the same level with the NFL.
They will jump on this in a heartbeat.
It was rumors they were going to give Lebron hundreds of millions of dollars to play a year or two.
I can believe it. Look how much they giving Ronaldo. These dudes money burning holes in their pockets.
It’s your money.
I just don’t know about mr Maverick
LeBron Boat Meeting in France With Jokić Agent Was About New League
Summarize
Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images
The mysterious boat meeting last week in France between LeBron James, his business partner Maverick Carter, and Nikola Jokić’s European agent was about the planned international basketball league being spearheaded by Carter, multiple sources tell Front Office Sports.
The photo, posted to Instagram over the weekend by Jokić’s European agent Miško Ražnatović, caused speculation about whether the trio was talking about James joining the Nuggets or Jokić joining the Lakers.
Sources familiar with the situation tell FOS it was not about the Nuggets or Lakers.
Eurohoops.net first reported the Carter-backed league was the “possible reason” for the meeting.
The caption of the post—which listed Saint Tropez, France as its location—teased, “The summer of 2025 is the perfect time to make big plans for the fall of 2026.”
Bloomberg first reported about the upcoming league, writing in January that a group of investors advised by Carter was seeking to raise $5 billion. The league’s plan is to have a touring model with six men’s and six women’s teams playing in eight cities. FOS reported at the timethat Carter was spearheading the effort and that James was not a part of it.
Ražnatović is a power player in European basketball. His BeoBasket agency—based in Belgrade, Serbia—has a partnership with Jokić’s American agency, Excel Sports Management, and has represented countless well-known European players, including Clippers center Ivica Zubac.
The upstart league scored funding from investors including the Singapore government, SC Holdings, Riyadh’s Public Investment Fund, UBS, Skype founder Geoff Prentice, and former Facebook executive Grady Burnett, the Financial Times reported in February.
FT also reported that the league expects to be a “full-time” responsibility, unlike the upstart women’s league Unrivaled, where the scheduling allows players to participate in both the new league and the WNBA. That means NBA players would not be able to play in both.
Like Unrivaled, players are expected to receive equity in the Carter-backed league. Current NBA rules bar players from having ownership stakes in teams, a rule Celtics star Jaylen Brown has said he would like to see changed.
Carter’s league has been compared to LIV Golf or Formula One, where teams would play in one city for a week or weekend before moving to another.
The NBA itself is also considering a new league in Europe. Commissioner Adam Silver said in March that the NBA is “ready to go to the next stage” and explore a new league in Europe with FIBA, the global governing body for basketball, as partners. But the NBA would likely have teams in European and U.K. cities, which would be a different format than Carter’s.
Silver and NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum met in London Wednesday with U.K. prime minister Keir Starmer as they seek out “potential stakeholders in a new NBA Europe league,” Marc Stein reported on Wednesday. The NBA is taking steps as it explores the new league, including announcing Wednesday that the Grizzlies and Magic will play two regular season games in Europe in January 2026, one in Berlin and a second in London.
EuroLeague CEO Paulius Motiejūnas is not in favor of a new NBA league. In a Tuesday Q&Awith The Athletic, he talked about a meeting held earlier this year between the NBA and the Euroleague, saying “We said to them, like we said publicly, we don’t believe that the new league is something that would help the market.”
Ražnatović and Carter did not respond to requests for comment.
Why isn't an African Country involved?
Infrastructure and political.instability. If the Sudanese would get out of their own way they would run the NBA or this new world league. The.Dinka are the tallest, most athletic cluster of people on the planet.
LeBron James reportedly is advocating for an international league.
ESPN reports that Maverick Carter, James’ business manager, was considering a $5 billion raise to launch an international basketball league with the help of multiple private equity funds. According to CBS Sports, the league would compete directly with the NBA. James, who is playing with the Los Angeles Lakers under a $52.6 million player option for the 2025-2026 season, has expressed interest in NBA team ownership, particularly for Las Vegas.
When the international league was announced, James was reportedly not involved with its plans. However, he may now be taking part. Front Office Sports mentions there was a meeting held in France between Carter, James, and Miško Ražnatović — the European agent of Denver Nuggets player Nikola Jokić — regarding the international league, according to sources close to the matter.
Details surrounding the league include having six men’s and six women’s teams that travel to play in eight cities worldwide. The league also intends for players to have a stake in the organization, an arrangement not found in the WNBA or NBA. Other leagues are breaking away from traditional business models as well. This includes Unrivaled, a 3-on-3 basketball league that reportedly offers the highest women’s salaries in sports and allocates equity to players, as AFROTECH™ previously told you. However, Carter’s league, unlike Unrivaled, will require a full-time commitment. Therefore, players who participate will not be able to participate in the NBA, according to Front Office Sports.
In an Instagram post, Ražnatović shared a hint of “big plans” on the way, fueling further speculations around the launch of the international league.
The NBA is also considering expanding to a league in Europe partnering with FIBA, the global governing body for basketball. However, EuroLeague officials are less interested.
“We said to them, like we said publicly, we don’t believe that the new league is something that would help the market,” EuroLeague CEO Paulius Motiejūnas said, per The Guardian.
Do you really want to partner with Ice Cube?
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