Basketball: New arena thanks to NBA? Alba Berlin senses opportunities

It could be the necessary impulse for a long-held project by Alba Berlin: If the North American professional league NBA actually implements the planned European branch, the traditional Berlin club wants to use the hoped-for financial opportunities as a boost for the construction of a new hall. However, the subjunctive still stands over these plans, because so far the NBA has said little that is reliable apart from statements and declarations of intent and a schedule that has changed several times for the start of NBA Europe.

In January, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver took advantage of the great attention at the Orlando Magic’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies in Berlin to promote the continental project. The same envisages the start of the new league in September 2027 – with prominent locations such as London, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Milan, Rome, Athens, Istanbul, Munich and Berlin.

Little horse’s foot: Most of these cities have traditional professional clubs that have been involved in the privately organized Euroleague for decades. The latter, in turn, shows little interest in a competing league and has already made clear statements rejecting the cooperation suggested by the NBA. To finance the whole thing, Silver has so far only vaguely brought a consortium of US banks and potential donors from the Arab region into play. In addition, the clubs being courted should look for their own investors. He didn’t want to reveal any details when asked.

How far the planning behind the scenes has progressed remains unclear. For Alba Berlin it would still be a welcome opportunity to solve the long-simmering problem of having its own large hall. So far, the basketball players have been playing in the Uber Arena at Ostbahnhof, which belongs to the Anschutz Entertainment Group. High rental costs, scheduling problems and sometimes low capacity utilization have been a burden on the club for some time. They left the Euroleague last season to play in the lower-class Champions League and look for an alternative.

The prospect of participation in NBA Europe could help, especially since it also offers the prospect of financial participation. As the Berlin morning post Now reported, there is talk of building a hall with up to 15,000 spectator seats in the southeast of Berlin. In any case, Alba managing director Marco Baldi will present a feasibility study to the sports committee of the Berlin House of Representatives on Friday. This should open the door to the city, which would be happy to fulfill the club’s wish and could provide state-owned land and a training center for the construction of the hall.

However, she does not want to contribute to the costs, which are likely to be in the three-digit million range. Probably the only reliable statement about the financing of the project at the moment.