CWNO Historical Archive: July 23, 2019

In Surprise Move, OPB Announces Plans to Acquire PLB

Premier League President Veronica Van De Klamp and OBP President of Marketing Mercury Grey shake hands after agreeing to terms on the OPB’s acquisition of the Premier League.

July 23, 2019; Paris, France- In a shocking announcement made in Paris today, the Organization of Professional Basketball announced it has agreed to acquire the Premier League of Basketball. The PLB has grown considerably in recent years, becoming the most significant competitor to the OPB while establishing franchises in Asia, Europe, South America, Africa, and Australia.

OPB President of Marketing and PLB President Veronica Van De Klamp announced the deal in a joint press conference and answered questions for just fifteen minutes before ending the event.

“The OPB has always believed in the global appeal of the world’s most exciting sport,” said Grey. “We’ve always had an eye on expansion beyond the United States, but the question was always how to do it in a way that would ensure the quality of play would remain to our high standards. The PLB provided us a turnkey way to globalize the OPB and we’re excited about what lies ahead.”

Van De Klamp added, “I think there is no higher compliment for what our team has built than to be acquired by the OPB, an organization that represents the best of professional sports. This deal reflects the commitment our league’s players and management teams have made to offering fans a high quality product. Basketball, worldwide basketball that is, is in good hands.”

Van De Klamp and Grey remained chummy throughout the presentation, complimenting one another on several occasions, and singing the praises of each league’s top players whenever the opportunity arose.

Most of the questions during the conference revolved around logistics- how conferences would be aligned, how schedules might be adjusted, and many more- but Grey deferred his answers until a later point in time, saying “...while we have many of the answers to your questions, we’re not ready to share them just yet.”

Bigger questions loomed later in the Q&A session. While the two leagues announced the terms of the deal and Grey said they expect to close the deal before the start of the 2020 season, the question was raised as to whether antitrust issues might prevent the deal from closing.

“I’m not worried about that,” responded Grey with a smirk before sharing a quick glance with Van De Klamp. “We have some pretty good lawyers on both sides that know what they’re doing, and of course we had conversations with the appropriate parties in anticipation of such concerns.

The OPB currently has 32 teams located across the United States, while the PLB is home to 16 across five continents. While Grey refused to answer whether the new OPB would expand beyond the 48 teams, he did suggest the league will always be looking to grow.