-
- Agreement to invest in basketball facilities and access with NBA
USA / ENGLAND – Basketball is one of the UK’s fastest-growing sports, the second-most-popular team sport for young people, behind football, and reaches diverse communities across the country while promoting the importance of a healthy, active lifestyle.
The NBA is one of the world’s most recognisable brands, reaching far and wide across the UK, as demonstrated by the fact that NBA fandom among adults in the country has increased by 24 percent since 2022, and the NBA is the top U.S. sports league among Gen Z in the UK (YouGov).
In recognition of this, the UK government and the NBA are announcing a comprehensive plan to collaborate on a variety of initiatives to continue to grow basketball and get people active in the UK:
- The UK government’s commitment to invest £400 million over the next four years on its Community Sport Facilities Programme includes £5 million in the first year for basketball and basketball-led multi-sport facilities in England. This is a new approach for the UK Government, investing beyond football-led grassroots facilities under this programme for the first time.
- This new dedicated funding for basketball will unlock a planned £5 million of investment from the NBA into grassroots development and fan engagement programmes through 2028, expanding the NBA’s existing programming that reaches more than 50,000 youth across the UK annually.
- The joint investment coincides with the NBA playing regular-season games in London in January 2026 and in Manchester in 2027, which will mark the first NBA games in the UK since 2019 and the league’s first regular-season game ever in Manchester – could generate over £100 million in economic impact for the UK. The two sides will explore the possibility of additional games in the UK in the future.
- As discussed in a meeting between NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and UK prime minister Keir Starmer MP in July 2025, the two sides will work together on investment opportunities around the NBA’s exploration of a new professional league in Europe given the project’s potential to further elevate basketball in London, Manchester and across the UK.
This plan will ensure that the close sporting and cultural ties between the UK and US, which basketball and the NBA have helped develop, have a growing socio-economic impact throughout the country. The UK Government and the NBA will collaborate to support the transformation of grassroots basketball and multi-use courts in the UK, creating more opportunities for underrepresented demographics such as women and girls, people with disabilities, and ethnic minority communities, to play the game.
The Department of Culture, Media and Sport’s (DCMS) funding will also ensure facilities can provide opportunities to play other sports to ensure as many people as possible in England benefit from this investment.
