Stephanie Peacock, the UK government’s sports minister, has reportedly pushed the UK Sport legislative body for an inquiry into allegations made by the Super League Basketball (SLB) competition that the recent league operator license tender run by the British Basketball Federation (BBF) was unlawful.
Earlier this week SLB handed the BBF a pre-legal notice over the latter body's plans to award an operating license to a US consortium headed by former EuroLeague Basketball acting chief executive Marshall Glickman from the start of the 2025-26 season.
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SLB has always asserted that the tender was “illegal and unjust”, claiming that the BBF had not consulted the SLB’s nine constituent teams (which own and operate the league) and that the licensing process breached UK competition law and the legislation on the matter laid out by global basketball’s FIBA governing body.
Despite that notice, the BBF opted to officially announce the Glickman consortium as the license holders this week, despite having no clubs or venues in place to support the plans.
Now the UK Department for Culture, Media, and Sport will – as first reported by The Guardian publication – ask UK Sport, the body in charge of disbursing funding for elite sport in the country, to investigate the “potentially criminal” tender process in response to SLB’s request.
Basketball receives £4.75 million ($6.1 million) in public money from the UK government every year.
Should the matter not be found to concern criminality, Peacock has reportedly asserted that an independent mediator for the situation may be put into place to resolve the long-running dispute.
In 2024 SLB was handed an interim license to operate the league for three seasons after the collapse of the former British Basketball league.
Since the tender process began, with tensions subsequently fraying, SLB has maintained that it does not legally need a license from the BBF, alluding to the idea that it may operate in parallel to the BBF should plans go ahead, fracturing UK basketball’s elite level.
While the BBF has claimed that Glickman’s consortium is bringing in excess of £15 million of funding to the new league project, SLB has countered that, in a statement: “SLB clubs and their owners have worked tirelessly and invested well over £15m this season alone to create a sustainable future for professional basketball in Britain, its fans and the communities it serves.
“All nine partner clubs are united in the vision to continue operating a stable and viable league for the 2025-26 SLB season and beyond.”
While SLB boasts the support of its nine constituent clubs, the BBF has conversely asserted that its tender was lawful, and claims the backing of the Basketball England, Basketball Scotland, and Basketball Wales governing bodies.
