NBA Europe expansion mirrors the WNBA's patient, decades-long growth strategy. Witness how sustained investment shapes leagues for lasting success.
The NBA’s push into Europe is being framed not as a quick commercial play, but as a long-term investment modeled in part on the slow, deliberate growth of the WNBA.
As discussions around a proposed NBA-backed European league continue to advance, Commissioner Adam Silver made clear this week that the league’s leadership is prepared for a lengthy runway before any financial payoff materializes. Speaking Thursday in Berlin, Silver repeatedly stressed patience, invoking the WNBA’s early struggles as a reminder that building a sustainable basketball ecosystem often requires decades rather than years.
The NBA has spent years exploring international expansion while balancing domestic growth, and Europe has increasingly emerged as the league’s next major frontier. Plans for a new European venture are now far enough along that questions about funding, ownership structure, and long-term viability are becoming central to the conversation.
Silver indicated that the initial financial burden would likely fall on those closest to the project.
“The funding would potentially come from, at least initially, the member clubs of the league,” Silver said, describing a startup-style model in which early participants would act as investors with the hope of eventual returns.
He cautioned, however, that even the NBA itself has rarely generated excess cash in its formative stages of new ventures.
“Despite very large revenues, we managed to spend most of that money on a combination of players and investing in infrastructure and marketing,” Silver said, underscoring that a European league would likely follow a similar pattern of heavy reinvestment before profitability.
From there, Silver drew a deliberate parallel to the WNBA, which is preparing to enter its 30th season. The comparison was not meant to equate the two projects directly, but rather to illustrate the importance of institutional commitment over time.
Silver recalled the early years of the WNBA under former NBA commissioner David Stern, when skepticism about the league’s future was commonplace.
“For the first decade of that league, the question usually was, ‘How long will you stick with this?’” Silver said, noting that early doubts were rooted in the league’s lack of immediate commercial success.
That perspective has shifted dramatically in recent years as women’s basketball has surged in popularity, valuation, and cultural relevance. Silver pointed to that transformation as evidence that sustained investment can eventually reshape a league’s trajectory.
“Jump ahead to 30 years later, where it’s amazing what’s happening in women’s basketball right now,” he said.
Importantly, Silver also acknowledged that the NBA’s ambitions in Europe are not limited to men’s basketball. He said the league would ultimately like to establish a women’s league in Europe as well, provided the right structural model can be identified.
Patience, Silver emphasized, remains the central requirement.
“This is not for those who are seeking short-term returns,” he said. “This is something that will be multi-decades in the making.”
Silver framed the challenge less as competition with existing basketball structures and more as the difficulty of creating a new brand identity from the ground up. Building fan connections, cultivating loyalty, and embedding teams within their local communities, he said, cannot be rushed.
“There are no shortcuts,” Silver said.
The proposed NBA Europe league is expected to launch with 16 teams in 2027, marking what could become the league’s most ambitious international expansion to date. For Silver, the WNBA’s evolution serves as both cautionary tale and roadmap: proof that early skepticism does not preclude long-term success, provided ownership groups and league leadership are willing to commit for the long haul.