Investors pitch new international basketball league that would offer players equity

A group of high powered investors want to raise billions to form a new international basketball league, according to people familiar with the matter.

The new organization would offer players equity, those people said.

The investors aim to raise $5 billion for the league, which could serve as a rival to the NBA if it can offer big-money deals to players, similar to how LIV Golf lured away PGA Tour players.

It’s unclear which players the league would target or when it could start.

Maverick Carter, LeBron James’ longtime friend and business partner, is advising a group that includes investment firm SC Holdings’ Jason Stein and Daniel Haimovic, Skype co-founder Geoff Prentice and former Facebook executive Grady Burnett.

A representative for James said he is not involved in the effort and declined to comment on whether the Los Angeles Lakers star has been approached to participate.

The group is working with UBS and Evercore to help raise the money, which is expected to come from a mix of sovereign wealth funds, institutional investors and wealthy individuals, the people said.

The unnamed league is expected to play games in eight cities around the world, spending two weeks in each city, following a model similar to Formula 1. The league will consist of 12 teams — six men’s and six women’s teams.

Singapore is one of the markets where games will take place, the people said. It’s unclear what the other seven markets will be.

Representatives for the NBA didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

But a source familiar said they were not aware of the plan for the league before reports about it emerged Wednesday. Bloomberg first reported the news.

In recent years, the NBA has ramped up its international presence, with a league in Africa and games abroad ranging from China to the UAE, Mexico City and Paris. The league also had a record-tying 125 international players tip off in the 2024 season.