Rival league reveals plans as civil war rumbles on

Consortium led by former NBA executive ready to set up new competition with or without Super League clubs

- Matt Hughes

The machinations over football's European Super League feel like a distant threat compared with the civil war in British basketball between the top-flight clubs and the sport's governing body. Leicester Riders claimed a record-equalling seventh Super League Basketball title in the final on Sunday against Newcastle Eagles at a packed O2 Arena, but it is unclear whether the league will even take place next season.

The Championship game was overshadowed last week by more detail surrounding the British Basketball Federation's awarding of a 15-year licence to operate a new Great Britain Basketball League to an American consortium led by the former NBA executive Marshall Glickman. His group, which is backed by the Seattle-based private equity company West River Group and several unknown athlete investors, has committed to a £15m upfront payment to cover operating costs for the first two years of the new league, which will launch for the 2026-27 season.

As a former president of Portland Trailblazers and acting chief executive of EuroLeague Basketball, Glickman has considerable pedigree but also a significant problem: the existing clubs are refusing to join.