NBA Cancels Middle East Preseason Games Amid U.S.-Iran Tensions

The NBA will not stage preseason games in the Middle East this season, ending a five-year run of regional fixtures. The decision, reported by ESPN, stems directly from the ongoing military conflict between the United States and Iran, a geopolitical rupture that has forced the league to reassess its international scheduling commitments.

The conflict’s origins lie in a February U.S. military strike conducted jointly with Israel, which resulted in the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Despite multiple ceasefire attempts, the conflict remains active. League officials determined that environment is incompatible with hosting international games in the region.

The retreat is a meaningful one. Twelve months earlier, the Knicks opened their preseason schedule with two matchups against the Sixers in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The league had been in discussions about additional regional fixtures involving the Cavaliers, Heat, Nets and Wizards. Abu Dhabi had become the centerpiece of the NBA’s Middle Eastern ambitions, anchored by a relationship Commissioner Adam Silver cultivated with Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, who directs Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism and holds significant influence in regional sports investment.

That partnership runs deeper than preseason exhibitions. In January, the NBA announced an extension of its collaboration with Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism, including plans to establish an NBA Global Academy in the emirate. Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum framed the arrangement in developmental terms. “Our collaboration with DCT Abu Dhabi has been instrumental in growing basketball participation and fandom in the UAE and across the Middle East,” Tatum said. “We look forward to building on those efforts in the years to come, including through the launch of an NBA Global Academy that will help develop elite-level players from the region and around the world.”

The financial stakes extend further still. Al Mubarak has been identified as a potential investor in the NBA’s proposed European league. Knicks owner and Sphere Entertainment CEO James Dolan negotiated a separate deal with Al Mubarak to build one of Sphere’s high-tech entertainment venues in Abu Dhabi. Al Mubarak described his vision in an October interview with ESPN: “When I close my eyes, I can see an NBA game being played in front of 22,500 people at the Sphere.”

The broader web of Gulf investment in global sport adds context to what is at stake. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s deputy prime minister, owns Manchester City. The Qatar Investment Authority holds a stake in Monumental Sports and Entertainment, the parent company of the Wizards and Mystics. Qatar is scheduled to host the 2027 FIBA World Cup, and the NBA had explored the possibility of games there as well, according to ESPN.

The NBA is not navigating this alone. Formula 1 recently announced it would relocate the Bahrain Grand Prix to Malaysia in October, having previously postponed races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia that were originally scheduled for spring.

For the current season, the NBA’s international preseason slate shifts to Quebec City, Vancouver and Macao, with regular season games scheduled for Mexico City, Paris and Manchester. League officials have indicated they expect to return to Abu Dhabi in the future. No timeline has been set. Whether the regional instability stabilizes quickly enough to revive those plans, and whether the financial relationships built around Abu Dhabi survive a prolonged absence, remains the open question hanging over the league’s international ambitions.