Exclusive: Marshall Glickman's GBB League plans to 'disrupt' British basketball's traditional structures as SLB stays silent

The British Basketball Federation (BBF), basketball's governing body, last month awarded the licence to run the professional league from the 2026/27 season to GBB League Ltd, a group of American investors fronted by Marshall Glickman, the former Portland Trailblazers president and acting CEO of the Euroleague.

In response, Super League Basketball (SLB) - the consortium of nine clubs including Sheffield Sharks that saved the professional tier last summer following the collapse of previous owners 777 Partners and which was awarded the licence initially for this current season - has threatened legal action against the governing body.

Now an investor sheet for prospective backers of the GBB League, which has been leaked to The Yorkshire Post, reveals radical new proposals for how it wants to run professional basketball in this country.

Mr Glickman's group wants to "disrupt traditional league structures by migrating 25 per cent plus of games from small home arenas to world class venues via regional mini tournaments that offer compelling experiences”.

They also plan to limit telecasts to one game per week and also broadcast an All-Star game over Christmas, as well as televise the play-off semi-finals and final. This season, all games hosted by Super League Basketball clubs were broadcast live and for free on DAZN globally.

This latest twist in British basketball’s civil war comes on the eve of SLB’s showpiece play-off final in London and after GBB League revealed plans to launch teams in new markets, like Leeds/Bradford.

Confusion over stake new clubs will receive

The investor sheet also shows ownership of the league will be 80 per cent investors and 20 per cent management.

That sparked fears that clubs, either new or existing like Sheffield Sharks - who the GBB League is open to including - would have no financial stake and would receive nothing if the league is successful.

But Mr Glickman, in his first public comments, told The Yorkshire Post that his company has merely inherited an ownership structure that was built into the previous licence agreement with 777 Partners.

Mr Glickman said: “As a part of our governance, management is incentivised to execute the business plan. The BBF does not hold an ownership interest, but will receive a license fee. As a result of the previous licensee (777), the BBF licence does not allow clubs to have an ownership interest in the league. However, the clubs will have representation at board level.”

He later added: “The league will equally distribute a share of its profits to the clubs against an annual minimum guarantee, the framework of which will be discussed with the clubs in detail at our first meeting.”

The BBF, when contacted for comment, referred to their previous statement of April 2 when announcing the award of the franchise that: “GBBL has committed to providing 100 per cent of the investment and operating risk for the league while guaranteeing a minimum annual distribution to each of the league’s clubs from day one, plus a share of profits.”

Contrastingly, the nine member clubs in the current SLB each has an equal stake in the league of roughly 11 per cent and already have established fanbases, and in cases like Sheffield and Sunday's play-off finalists Newcastle Eagles and Leicester Riders, their own arenas.

SLB clubs have said they will continue to run their league outside the purview of the BBF, with the division in the sport potentially putting the British game on a collision course with basketball’s global governing body, FIBA, which more than a decade ago banned Japan from international competition because of rival leagues working against each other. The BBF has already confirmed that FIBA has asked them “to investigate possible breaches of the international federation’s regulations concerning the appointment of officials from another country”.

Sheffield and their league rivals remain resistant to GBB League overtures

It is understood the SLB clubs have continued to decline GBB League’s advances.

Mr Glickman confirmed to The Yorkshire Post: “We have offered to meet with the clubs several times and they declined. We would welcome the opportunity of meeting and explaining our plans.”

GBB League revealed plans this week to launch teams in a number of markets where there is currently no representation, including Leeds/Bradford, Liverpool and Southampton. Any new team would have to pay a licence fee, as they would if they were to enter SLB.

But Mr Glickman added: “None of the existing clubs will pay a franchise fee. We want to embrace the SLB clubs, the fans, and communities. It has never been our intention to charge them for their participation in the league.”

With regards player development, GBB League says it will “establish a league-funded and operated elite academy that identifies and selects the best U18 players from each club's local academy to form an All-Star Select Team and ultimately build a competitive national team roster to qualify for major FIBA competitions (Europe, World, Olympics).”

On the subject of NBA Europe clubs, it has recently been muted that the American league wants to expand onto this continent and is looking at putting teams into Manchester and London.

GBB League states on its investor sheet: “The team have direct long-standing relationships with the NBA and EuroLeague, easing alignment and partnering for those leagues' anticipated push into the UK.

“Any UK club playing in a pan-European competition will also play in the UK domestic league and each club's participation in outside competition (e.g. NBA Europe) must get league approval.”

Super League Basketball are understood to be waiting until after this weekend’s play-off finals to make their next move.