- NBA Commissioner Adam Silver spoke exclusively to CNBC's Contessa Brewer in Macao, China.
- The NBA is currently playing two preseason games in Macao.
- Silver said he's working on the WNBA coming to Macao for future exhibition games.
- EuroLeague rejected a proposal from the NBA to help launch NBA Europe but Silver expressed confidence that a deal will get done.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver expressed confidence on Friday that he will get a deal done with EuroLeague to launch NBA Europe, a new European basketball league.
"We're going to get something worked out," Silver said in an exclusive CNBC interview. "It's like any negotiation – it's ongoing."
Silver spoke with CNBC's Contessa Brewer from Macao, China, where the NBA is playing two preseason games between the Dallas Mavericks and the Houston Rockets.
Earlier this week, EuroLeague basketball owners rejected a formal offer from the NBA to form a merged league that would become NBA Europe. EuroLeague has 13 shareholder clubs, including Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, and Olympiakos, Milan.
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Silver brushed off this week's rejection as a bump in the road.
"I think it's too extreme to say it's a rough patch," Silver said. "I mean, we've been going back and forth in EuroLeague. They're the existing pan-regional league right now in Europe. On top of that, there's leagues in every country. It's hard to believe there are 1,200 professional clubs in Europe. So EuroLeague is the top-tier competition right now. We're going forward with what we're what we're calling NBA Europe, and we're hoping we'll work something out with the EuroLeague. I think we will."
Silver confirmed the league has received bids for "many hundreds of millions of dollars" from existing European basketball clubs, "some of the big soccer brands in Europe," and wealthy individuals that are interested in buying the 12 new permanent NBA Europe teams coming to markets including London, Paris, Rome, Munich, Barcelona, Athens, Madrid and others.
"It's a sort of once and forever opportunity to be the NBA team in London, Paris, Madrid," Silver said.
The NBA continues to target an October 2027 launch date for NBA Europe.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver speaks to CNBC on Oct. 9th in Macao, China.CNBCWNBA to Macao
The NBA is also working on plans to send two WNBA teams to Macao as soon as next season, Silver confirmed. The two teams would play a preseason game or two, similar to how the NBA does it now, according to a person familiar with the matter.
"We are interested in having the women come here," Silver said. "I think I know there's many WNBA teams that would love to play internationally, and this is a beautiful arena. It's a great opportunity here, so we hope to make that happen."
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