Super League Basketball (SLB), the operator of British basketball’s top flight, has filed a legal notice against the country’s British Basketball Federation (BBF) governing body over its plans to award the license to operate the competition to a rival consortium.
SLB served the BBF with a Letter Before Action, a move that preempts legal recourse over the decision, to lay out its position.
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Owned by the league’s nine participating clubs, Super League Basketball was established in 2024 to operate a British basketball competition after the collapse of the former British Basketball League and its major investors, 777 Partners.
SLB was handed an interim license to operate the league for three seasons, but at the beginning of 2025, the BBF opted to award the long-term license for the men’s professional league to a US consortium led by former EuroLeague Basketball acting chief executive Marshall Glickman from the start of the 2025-26 season.
That decision prompted backlash from the SLB member clubs at the time, claiming that they had not been consulted and that the licensing process breached UK competition law and the legislation on the matter laid out by global basketball’s FIBA governing body.
A spokesperson for SLB claimed that the body has been “ignored” in its attempts at gaining clarity from the BBF, continuing: “Having been excluded from a process that directly impacts the future of the sport, despite being described as key stakeholders, the SLB continues to have serious concerns about the legality and transparency of the BBF’s approach, which we believe undermines both the integrity of the sport and the interests of players, fans, and communities across the country.
“We remain steadfast in our view that it was not in the sport’s interest to participate in this process and remain frustrated at the BBF’s lack of transparency and communication considering its role as a governing body, with its actions already having a detrimental impact on clubs, loyal fans and the sport as a whole.”
Glickman’s consortium, which also includes Chris Dillavou and Arjun Metre (experienced executives and investors in the sports, media, and tech industries), is now in an exclusive negotiating period to finalize the terms of the prospective license with the BBF.
SLB added: “The SLB is united with its clubs on the need to bring this ill-fated adventure by the BBF to a close as soon as practical and remains committed to securing a resolution to this matter to allow us to collectively continue our work of establishing and growing the professional basketball league in this country.”
Vaughn Millette, owner of the SLB’s Sheffield Sharks franchise, had been the chair of SLB up until his resignation from the post earlier in March, owing to the firestorm surrounding a refereeing scandal in which he lodged accusations of racism against an official, leading to a referee strike that saw SLB fixtures canceled.
