NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum has said that the first Basketball Africa League (BAL) franchises will be announced in 2027, but the timeline for a transition to a new structure is still to be determined.
Until now, teams have had to qualify through FIBA's Road to BAL qualifiers, and this would remain an option for non-franchise teams. However, BAL franchises would have recurring automatic participation in the league.
The 2027 season has long been discussed as a transition point from the old model to the new franchise system, but the Road to BAL is proceeding in the meantime.
"We've made significant progress on transitioning the Basketball Africa League to a franchise model," Tatum said.
"Ahead of the initial deadline, which was in June, we received dozens of bids for permanent franchises across all of our target markets, including significant interest from established basketball markets like Nigeria and Senegal. We also saw bids from emerging markets with long-term growth potential like Kenya, Rwanda, and South Africa."
A bid from Cape Town centering around the GrandWest Arena -- led by some of the executives who oversaw the Cape Town Tigers through their run to three successive national titles and the 2024 BAL semi-finals -- was rejected.
One of the execs involved, Cape Town Tigers' founding owner Lari Kangas, told ESPN the Cape Town bid was fully funded. Potential investors into a franchise elsewhere in South Africa remain in discussions. AfroBallers reported that Spike Lee signed a letter of intent to join a bidding group for a franchise in the country.
Meanwhile, Kenya's Nairobi City Thunder have unveiled Lupita Nyong'o as an investor. However, there has still been no announcement of a permanent franchise.
"We're advancing discussions with priority bidders, and plan to announce our first BAL franchises in 2027," Tatum continued.
"What looks like in terms of when those franchises will begin playing in the BAL is still TBD. We're still working through that, but we do expect to introduce BAL franchises into playing in the BAL on a rolling basis.
"Again, the principle there is going to be similar to Europe where we will continue to preserve open spots that clubs across Africa can qualify for on an annual basis. So we'll always have that, and again, this is a partnership with FIBA. We'll always have that pathway for clubs that are not permanent franchises to be able to play into the top tier competition."
The NBA has run the BAL together with FIBA in Africa since the inaugural edition in 2021. The league has yet to reach profitability, but has produced several talented players - notably the Phoenix Suns' Khaman Maluach and the Florida Gators' Rueben Chinyelu.
NBA Africa does not disclose its financials, but ESPN understands the BAL's revenue grew by over 100% from 2021 to 2024 before subsequently stabilizing. The NBA hopes the franchise model will unlock more revenue and promptly lead the league towards profitability, with franchises expected to invest into grassroots development to build the game on the continent from the ground up.