NBA to host future games in London and Manchester – with Orlando Magic vs Memphis Grizzlies taking place at the O2 Arena in 2026

The NBA will return to the UK for the first time in seven years with regular-season matches being played there in 2026 and 2027.

The Orlando Magic and the Memphis Grizzlies will do battle at the O2 Arena in London on January 18, 2026; with Manchester the location for an unnamed fixture 12 months later.

London’s upcoming encounter in January 2026 will be the first NBA game in the UK since the Washington Wizards’ win over the New York Knicks in January 2019, with the English capital previously having hosted yearly matches between 2011 and 2019.

Manchester will host a regular-season game for the first time in 2027 at the Co-op Live, with the teams involved to be revealed before the start of that season.

The Mayor of London, Sir Sadiq Khan, said: ‘London is now the undisputed sporting capital of the world and the NBA coming to The O2 in January 2026 will further cement our global status.’

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said: ‘This is great news for the city-region and is an exciting opportunity for us to see some of the best basketball players in the world on our doorstep.’

Paris and Berlin to also stage NBA matches between 2026-28

Recently, regular-season matches have been held at Paris’ Accor Arena – with the Indiana Pacers and San Antonio Spurs playing a double-header there in January of this year.

Paris will still host NBA matches with the London and Manchester announcement part of a wider iniative to stage more games in Europe.

As well as London, Berlin will also host the Magic and Grizzlies three days prior at the Uber Arena – in what will be the first-ever regular-season clash in Germany.

Paris will then host a match in 2027 alongside Manchester. Then in 2028, Berlin and Paris will be the cities, completing a six-game double header over the next three years.

‘Announcing the next three season’s regular-season games in Europe reflects the incredible momentum and appetite for NBA basketball in France, Germany, the UK and across the region,’ said George Aivazoglou, the NBA’s managing director for Europe and the Middle East.

‘We look forward to welcoming the Grizzlies and the Magic to Berlin and London and to engaging fans, players and the local communities through the games and the surrounding events.’

The full NBA schedule for this season is expected to be released in mid-August. The dates and participating teams for the games in 2027 and 2028 will be announced prior to the 2026-27 and 2027-28 NBA seasons, respectively.