Exclusive: O2 Arena open to hosting NBA Europe after record-breaking year
The owners of London’s O2 Arena have insisted they have enough days in their calendar to host a NBA Europe franchise in the capital should the league launch in 2027.
The US basketball league is exploring the possibility of setting up a European equivalent, tapping into major football club brands this side of the pond. Both London and Manchester have been cited as franchise hubs, with each city also hosting US NBA matches over the next two years.
Comments from O2 Arena owner AEG Europe’s Gael Caselli came as the 20,000-capacity venue revealed a record-breaking year, with nearly 3m tickets sold for events at the Greenwich Peninsula site.
2025 saw a total of around 11m visitors to the arena, with 239 performances across the year. And it means there’s 126 spare days to exploit going forward.
O2 Arena for NBA Europe?
“[NBA back in London] been a pretty long negotiation in the making but the idea now is a three-year plan in Europe, where they’re going to be playing two games a year in 2027 and 2028 across three different countries – the UK, France and Germany,” Caselli said.
“We’ve been at the epicenter of that negotiation for quite a while now and the O2 is going to get a game in January. But the Uber Arena in Berlin, which is an AEG venue, and Accor Arena in Paris, which is an AEG affiliated venue, are getting games.
“[NBA Europe] is a very exciting project. We’ll have to monitor the situation and see who’s actually getting the London franchise but [being booked for] 239 days means we still have a few left to make it up to 365.
“I’m sure our programming team and booking team will be pushing a lot and moving dates around to make sure we can host as many games as possible.
“There are too many unanswered questions about the league itself but we’ll definitely look at it and be very interested in the project.”
The O2 Arena will host the Memphis Grizzlies’ regular season home game against Orlando Magic in late January after the NBA took a six-year hiatus from the UK.
Its return, combined with the match in Manchester in 2027, is expected to contribute £100m to the UK economy.