Manchester Basketball to rival Man City and United for NBA Europe franchise
The owners of Manchester’s Super League Basketball team are in talks over a bid, backed by private equity or sovereign wealth, for the city’s planned NBA Europe franchise.
President Ben Pierson told CityAM that their experience in operating professional teams in Manchester and neutrality to its partisan football scene could be assets in the bidding process.
Should discussions with the NBA progress to a bid, they could face competition from the owners of Manchester City and Manchester United for the rights to run an NBA Europe team.
Pierson said the US-based Sherwood Family Investment Office, which bought Manchester Basketball two years ago, had the resources to meet the NBA’s asking price of $500m-$1bn for entry to the league, which is due to start next year, but had also been approached to partner with institutional investors.
“The Sherwoods have been in dialogue with JPMorgan and the NBA since the process began,” he said.
“We have the financial resources to put a bid together ourselves if it looks like it makes sense. But we’ve also been approached by a number of groups that understand that we’re the operating business in the city.
“I think you’ll see this with a lot of other cities – a collaboration by multiple bidders, because you mesh your financial resources but you also mesh various pieces of operating experience.
“There’s a lot of capital out there, people who are not operators themselves; they want to put the capital to work, but they don’t want to be on the front lines operating the sports franchise.”
Manchester football giants could split fandom
A Manchester NBA franchise may offer better value to investors than the one in London, which is likely to be among – if not the – most sought-after in the 16-team league.
The owners of both Manchester City and Manchester United have been credited with interest in buying a team, but both would carry the risk of alienating half of the local fanbase.
City’s Abu Dhabi ownership has strong ties to the NBA, while United majority owners the Glazers also own NFL and T20 cricket teams.
Pierson added: “If you are a light-blue branded basketball team, do you lose half the city because the Man United fans aren’t going to go to your games? So there is a logic for a third party to come in.”
Both the London and Manchester NBA teams are also expected to play in Super League Basketball, in a major boost for the domestic competition after a turbulent two years.
“That’s great for the value of our Manchester franchise, irrespective of if it’s an NBA Europe team,” Pierson added. “I think either way it turns out, this is great for our Manchester franchise. I think this is great for the broader SLB, too.”
Other entities expected to bid for NBA Europe franchises include RedBird Capital Partners, an investor in Liverpool FC and owner of AC Milan, and Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund PIF.
The league is slated to start in October 2027 with 12 permanent franchises plus four teams who qualify on an annual basis. Existing European basketball superpowers Barcelona and Real Madrid have held talks about leaving EuroLeague to join NBA Europe.