NBA executives are set to engage African government leaders in New York during United Nations General Assembly week as the league advances plans to transform the Basketball Africa League into a permanent franchise-based competition.
The discussions come as the NBA and FIBA work toward selling as many as 10 permanent BAL franchises to private investors across African markets.
The NBA plans to use this week’s UN General Assembly meetings to discuss its vision for the BAL with government officials from across the continent before advancing talks with priority investors.
Initial non-binding bids submitted in June came from markets including Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Kenya, Rwanda and South Africa.
Multiple proposals reportedly exceeded US$50 million, potentially making the planned BAL franchises some of the largest proposed investments in African basketball.
The NBA’s objective during the UNGA meetings is to discuss how its franchise vision fits within the governments’ plans for sports development and the broader business environment before moving forward with selected bidders.
The BAL currently operates as a 12-team competition involving clubs from across the continent.
The league’s sixth season featured teams from 12 countries, with games staged in Pretoria, Rabat and Kigali. The season ended in May when Rwanda’s RSSB Tigers defeated Angola’s Petro de Luanda 90-88 to win the championship.
The proposed franchise system would change how teams enter and operate in the competition.
NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum previously said the league was exploring a model featuring permanent franchises, with the NBA potentially adding teams gradually rather than introducing all of them at once.
In an interview with Andscape, Tatum said the league had hired investment bank Moelis to run the process and had been engaging with hundreds of potential investors.
“There are no locks,” Tatum said while explaining the selection process. He added that the marketplace would ultimately determine where the first franchises would be established.
The NBA has also been assessing whether potential markets have the infrastructure required to support permanent professional teams.
Tatum previously identified cities including Kigali, Dakar, Johannesburg, Rabat, Cairo, Nairobi and Lagos among markets the NBA was considering or discussing as part of the franchise transition.
The proposed ownership model goes beyond purchasing a team. The NBA has linked permanent BAL franchises to investment in arenas, academies and grassroots basketball development.
Tatum said Kigali already had the infrastructure required for a franchise, while other markets would need additional investment in venues.
For Nairobi, he identified the city as an important market but noted that it did not have an arena that currently met the league’s requirements. He said projects under development could potentially address that gap.
The NBA has similarly been in discussions with partners in Lagos over arena development, while investors in Ghana have also presented plans for infrastructure.
The approach means government involvement can matter even where private investors lead franchise bids. Governments can influence areas such as infrastructure, regulation, taxation and sports development, although the franchise purchases themselves are being pursued through private investment.
The franchise push comes after another record-breaking BAL season.
The NBA reported that more than 110,000 fans attended games during the 2026 season, including record attendance during the group phases in South Africa and Morocco.
The league also generated more than 1.1 billion social media views, while 22 marketing, merchandising and institutional partners supported the competition.
The BAL had already posted strong digital numbers before the playoffs.
By late May, the league reported more than 722 million social media views during the group phase alone, marking another record for the competition.
The figures have helped strengthen the commercial case for moving from a tournament-style competition toward permanent franchises with long-term owners and investors.
The NBA has also pointed to the broader development of basketball on the continent, including the emergence of players who have moved from the BAL into the NBA.
The current discussions are focused on the NBA’s long-term franchise vision and its engagement with governments in markets where investors have expressed interest.
