Candace Parker, Sloane Stephens Are Listed As Investors In A Planned International Basketball League That Will Give Players Equity
A planned international basketball league is gaining momentum.
Front Office Sports (FOS) reports that a five-on-five men’s and women’s basketball league, quietly called “Project B,” could launch by the fall of next year with tournaments in Asia, Europe, and Latin America.
It will follow the blueprint of Unrivaled, a 3-on-3 basketball league, by offering equity to its players.
The league’s investment group is led by Skype Co-founder Geoffrey Prentice and former Facebook executive Grady Burnett, reports FOS. Former WNBA player Candace Parker — who recently submitted a bid to bring a WNBA league to Nashville, TN, as AFROTECH™ previously reported — also backs the international league.
Tennis players Novak Djokovic and Sloane Stephens, former WNBA player Alana Beard, ex-NFL quarterback Steve Young, and others are also listed as investors in the international team, per FOS.
The league has also secured interest from “some of the game’s most respected athletes,” a spokesperson told FOS.
“The players are our partners, they’re one of our largest stakeholders. They are creating value, and getting paid for that value,” Beard explained to the outlet.
A spokesperson confirmed to FOS that Maverick Carter, LeBron James’ business partner, had also been involved in the international league but is no longer part of it.
“He is no longer working with them or any other basketball league in Europe,” the spokesperson said.
Nonetheless, the league has onboarded several other partners, including Quiet Capital, Mangrove Capital, and Sequence Equity. According to Marcus Stroud, Sequence Equity’s general partner and co-founder, this is the investment platform’s “biggest investment to date.”
While the league sought to raise $5 billion, it is unclear how much capital it has received.
“We want this to be incredible basketball,” Burnett told FOS.
Beard commented:
“This is not a gimmick. We’re playing five-on-five, we’re playing elite basketball. We want the best of the best playing in our league. That’s a full stop.”
