London Lions in EuroLeague franchise bid – but may have to quit Super League Basketball Sport Business London Lions are in talks to buy an expansion franchise in EuroLeague basketball when the continent’s premier competition adds four new teams next year. London is a priority market for EuroLeague as it advances its plans to grow to 24 teams for the 2027-28 season – part of a comprehensive rearguard action against the NBA’s [...]
London Lions CEO: We’d love to be in NBA Europe but we have a reason to exist anyway Sport Business London Lions CEO Lenz Balan on the club’s NBA Europe ambitions and the challenges of making British basketball financially sustainable. “I’m, like, an irrational optimist,” says London Lions CEO Lenz Balan as he explains why he views the impending arrival of an NBA Europe team on his patch as an opportunity, not a threat. The [...]
British Basketball Federation set to go into administration, say sources Sport Business The British Basketball Federation, the sport’s national governing body, is expected to go into administration imminently, multiple sources have told Morning Wire. It is understood that many of the BBF’s duties will be transferred to Basketball England and that the ban on British referees officiating in competitions run by world governing body Fiba has been [...]
London set for new 15,000-capacity arena in boost for capital November 10, 2025 The capital is set to gain a 15,000-capacity basketball arena after studies surrounding a new stadium for the London Lions concluded their opening phase. The custom-built, multi-purpose stadium could stage as many as 40 basketball games per season as well as hundreds of cultural events. A London Lions feasibility study conducted in conjunction with The [...]
Picture exclusive: NBA meets Starmer for encouraging talks at No10 August 1, 2025 NBA chiefs are understood to have been encouraged by a lengthy meeting with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer this week in which they discussed plans to launch a European league. Starmer hosted NBA commissioner Adam Silver and deputy commissioner Mark Tatum at No10 Downing Street on Wednesday during an ongoing tour of Europe by the [...]
NBA Europe: Basketball chiefs meeting investors in London July 29, 2025 NBA chiefs are in town this week to hold talks with potential investors in its planned European league and a potential London franchise, according to reports. Commissioner Adam Silver and deputy Mark Tatum are set to meet with private equity firms, investment banks, sovereign wealth funds, government officials and basketball clubs during a European roadshow, [...]
British basketball at war: How can BBF and SLB bloody battle be resolved? July 4, 2025 British basketball is no stranger to turmoil but even by its warped standards the raging civil war between SLB clubs and governing body the BBF is extraordinary. At its heart is a power struggle for the right to run the domestic league. But it also involves claims of dishonesty, mission creep, vindictiveness and outright illegality [...]
London Lions tap pyramids experts for new basketball arena plans July 3, 2025 The London Lions have appointed consultancies whose clients include the pyramids of Giza, the Eden Project and Formula 1 to help draw up plans for their new basketball arena. The Super League Basketball club have engaged The Sports Consultancy, which has worked with F1, the Football Association and the NFL, and Trivandi, whose projects have [...]
Exclusive: London Lions’ new owners defend controversial CEO appointment September 1, 2024 Balan was one of the key lieutenants at 777, which bought the Lions in 2020 but took them to the brink of liquidation in July as the US private equity business collapsed.
BBL champions London Lions bought out of administration by Lithuanian group and Zalgiris Kaunas August 14, 2024 British basketball champions London Lions have been bought out of administration by Lithuanian group Tesonet and Zalgiris Kaunas. London Lions were taken to the brink of extinction by the collapse of former owner 777 Partners’ sporting empire. Tesonet, a tech hub and investor in Lithuanian side Zalgiris Kaunas, was the early frontrunner and the only [...]