The NBA is moving closer to striking deals with several major European football clubs to help establish a new continental basketball league in Europe, according to four internal sources with direct knowledge of the negotiations who spoke to The Athletic.

NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum addressed the annual general assembly of the European Club Association on Tuesday.

The NBA has long sought partnerships with Europe's top football clubs, hoping to leverage their financial strength and strong brand influence to make them core members of NBA Europe.

NBA Europe is scheduled to launch next autumn. Negotiations have been ongoing for several months, and sources from both football and basketball have indicated that recent developments suggest significant progress is being made in reaching agreements between the NBA and several major football clubs. All sources requested anonymity as negotiations remain ongoing.

For instance, Mark Tatum, NBA Deputy Commissioner and President Adam Silver's chief representative for international affairs, attended the annual general assembly of the European Club Association (ECA) on Tuesday. The meeting was hosted by the ECA, with Paris Saint-Germain President Nasser Al-Khelaifi serving as host.

According to sources, what was truly noteworthy was perhaps not what Tatum said at the meeting, but who invited him and who was present. These factors are viewed as significant indicators that the NBA is gradually moving toward collaboration with major European football clubs.

Paris Saint-Germain, controlled by Qatar Sports Investments, has long been considered a prime candidate to establish a Paris basketball team and participate in NBA Europe.

On Tuesday, Tatum and George Aivazoglou, NBA Senior Vice President and Managing Director for Europe and the Middle East, held private discussions with executives from Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, and AC Milan. These major football clubs have all expressed interest in joining NBA Europe. Notably, neither Paris Saint-Germain nor AC Milan currently has its own basketball club.

Sources revealed that at the EuroLeague Shareholders Meeting in Italy next week, parties will discuss the NBA's proposal, which includes acquiring the EuroLeague and merging it with the new NBA Europe.

"Obviously, if negotiations between the NBA and these football clubs weren't progressing in the right direction, Tatum wouldn't have been invited to this meeting," said an official from a European football giant interested in participating in NBA Europe, speaking during the meeting in Copenhagen.

The event was the ECA General Assembly, which featured a full day of networking, workshops, and presentations for executives from various European football clubs.

Tatum spoke during a TED-talk-style session designed to inspire attendees through remarks from leaders in the sports industry and other sectors.

Speaking before Tatum were Andrew Wilson, CEO of video game company EA, and Will Ahmed, co-founder of wearable technology company Whoop.

By the time Tatum took the stage, there was considerable anticipation for a familiar topic: the substantial economic returns that a major European sport can generate, and that sport was, of course, basketball.

However, Tatum knew exactly how to frame it. He strongly emphasized the influence of football, the passion of European fans, and the unique business model of European sports.

Then Tatum shifted slightly. He pointed out that European basketball does not receive a "fair share" of European sports consumers. Currently, all European basketball leagues combined account for only about 1% of the European sports market.

In his view, one reason for this is the near-total absence of top-tier basketball in some of Europe's largest and most economically powerful countries. And this is precisely what NBA Europe hopes to change.

Tatum did not reveal much previously unreported information in his Tuesday speech. He stated that NBA Europe plans to launch with 12 core teams and four wildcard teams.

As previously reported, the 12 core teams are planned to be from London, Paris, Rome, Milan, Berlin, Munich, Istanbul, Madrid, Athens, Barcelona, Manchester, and Lyon.

In his speech, Tatum also discussed inspirations the NBA has drawn from European football leagues and clubs.

"We've learned so much from European football over the years," Tatum said. "We launched an in-season tournament, the NBA Cup. This concept came directly from European football and European sports. European football has a tradition of holding cup competitions during the league season, and we thought, 'Why can't we do that?' So we applied this concept to the NBA."

"I think, as I just mentioned, one of our goals in trying to build our own league in Europe is to replicate the successes you have already established. Football is clearly one of the largest sports in the world, and European football is one of the largest commercial entities globally. We simply want to learn as much as possible from all of you here."

Tatum also mentioned the NBA's practice of adding corporate sponsorship patches to jerseys, a concept also borrowed from European football.

"If Manchester United can remove their name from their jersey and give that space to a sponsor, then the Chicago Bulls can certainly add a small sponsorship patch to their jersey."

"Nine years ago, we used this example to convince NBA team owners to accept this concept," Tatum added, and he also called for the construction of new basketball arenas across multiple regions in Europe.

Currently, there are only a few basketball arenas in Europe that meet NBA standards, and future teams in London and Paris may not be able to use existing local venues, meaning Europe will need significant investment in new arena construction.

"We want to establish this league in Europe and simultaneously promote greater investment in basketball development and player development, including building youth academies, investing in infrastructure, and truly making basketball a commercially viable industry."

"What we are looking for is a commitment from all parties to invest in grassroots basketball programs, invest in arenas, and promote the development of basketball across Europe." To advance basketball in Europe, the NBA is seeking support from European football clubs and leagues.

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