The future of the league may be up in the air and their title hopes now extinguished but Sheffield Sharks are plotting the conquering of two different continents in the coming months.

Sharks will play in America for the first time in their history in July and despite the ongoing uncertainty of how Super League Basketball will take shape next season amid the licence dispute with the British Basketball Federation, they hope to play in European competition in 2025/26.

First up, Sheffield have entered into The Basketball Tournament (TBT) in the USA this summer, a 64-team invite competition with a first prize of $1m.

TBT is a tournament that has been growing each year and was initially only open to college alumni and reunion teams, but has now been opened up to professional clubs.

Prentiss Nixon of the Sheffield Sharks, a club that is plotting competition on two different continents in the coming months.

placeholder image — Prentiss Nixon of the Sheffield Sharks, a club that is plotting competition on two different continents in the coming months.

The tournament is divided into eight regional hubs of eight teams with Sharks selected to play in Kansas City, Missouri, from July 19-23.

The format is straight knockout, with three rounds in the regional event to negotiate. The winners move on to a national knockout the following week.

With the majority of players on their current roster seeing their contracts expire at the end of the season next month, there may be some unfamiliar faces representing Sheffield in Kansas. It is understood Sharks could be made up of a mix of existing players, people they are scouting and some that need the exposure the televised tournament offers them.

Playing in the USA is seen by club insiders as a good opportunity to raise the profile of the club and British basketball.

Sharks are also exploring re-entering European competition next season after an absence of more than two decades.

Playing continental basketball again has long been the ambition of the club’s old hierarchy, but only once they got settled into their own arena. Next year would be their third season at the Canon Medical Arena and would fit their timeline.

The arrival of American entrepreneur Vaughn Millette as principal owner last summer has given them more financial freedom to pursue it and the achievement of Newcastle Eagles in reaching the final of the European North Basketball League shown them what is possible.

It is understood Sharks are considering either the ENBL, the FIBA Cup or the EuroCup and even amid the licence wrangle, they believe Super League Basketball should be recognised independently of BBF’s purview and they can therefore take these decisions.