Sport and business

In Rome the basketball war chasing the NBA Europe dream

Luka Doncic's team officialised the birth of the new Serie A team in the capital, but Matiasic doesn't give up and Virtus chases the A2

by Marco Bellinazzo

29 May 2026

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

The Nelson-Doncic Rope
The Matiasic Rope
Virtus Roma

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

In Rome, the basketball war is being waged in the shadow of the great stone defendant, the NBA Europe project, the continental tournament under the aegis of the NBA that should start in the autumn of 2027. The possibility of fielding the Rome team is being contested by various groups, even if a point of great impact, also in the media, has just been scored in its favour by the consortium of US-based investors that refers to the historic NBA executive Donnie Nelson and the star Luka Doncic, who made official the acquisition of the Serie A title from Vanoli Cremona and the simultaneous move to the capital.

The Nelson-Doncic Rope

The operation, which has been under consideration for months and has received the approval of the Federation for sporting matters, involves the historic Italia coach Valerio Bianchini and former basketball player Rimantas Kaukenas and, above all, Nba star Luka Doncic at management level.

"Basketball is coming back to Rome," wrote the Slovenian champion of the Los Angeles Lakers on his social networks. "I've been dreaming of owning a team in Europe for a long time, and it's really incredible that this dream has finally come true I really believe we can achieve something special for basketball in Italia and Europe."

"Rome deserves to have a basketball team of the highest level and we are happy to help bring it back to the top," added Donnie Nelson, who in his long career was also general manager of the Dallas Mavericks. "Vanoli Cremona has an important history and we will strive to honour this tradition as we build an exciting future in Rome. This city has been waiting too long for the return of top-level basketball. But now everything will change. We will provide the resources, the experience, and the passion to make this club a source of pride for Rome and for all of Italia'.

This consortium took part in the bidding to ensure that they could play the next Serie A championship at the Pala Eur, currently the only facility with adequate capacity, about 10 thousand seats in the capital. The offer to rent the arena was around 35 thousand per match.

If it does not win, as it seems it will, the new team will take the field at the smaller sports hall in Viale Tiziano, with the dream of moving to the Foro Italico's Central Stadium, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of the summer of 2028, and will provide a modern, 12,000-seat arena.

The Matiasic Rope

The highest bid (more than 100,000 euro per match) for the Pala Eur is said to have been lodged by Paul Matiasic, the Californian lawyer, former head of the Cotogna Sports Group, owner of Pallacanestro Trieste. But if the fans of Vanoli Cremona have lost their team, those of Trieste have opposed this scenario, as have the local authorities.

So, Matiasic is trying to acquire the sporting title of another team in order to be able to play at the Pala Eur and assert this position of strength in the race for the Roman team of the future NBA Europe, along with a development plan with economic spin-offs for the territory estimated at over 20 million euros per year. He had apparently tried, without luck, to take over Scafati Basket. Matiasic would also operate on behalf of Greenwich Advisory & Company, an investment banking boutique with expertise in the global professional sports sector.

Virtus Roma

In the capital, in fact, a team already exists, namely Virtus Roma, which is currently in the play-offs to win promotion to the A2 series. Matiasic has also tried in the past to reach an agreement with the ownership of Virtus, which plays its home games at the Pala Tiziano (which seats around 3500). The current owners of the team - the GVM Care & Research group (of president Ettore Sansavini) and the Team Service company - in which the Roman fans recognise themselves, are trying to move up the categories of tricolour basketball and are in turn aiming to play the tradition card in the race for the continental NBA dream.