 Van Den Broeck was said to be the European representative of ABA commissioner Mike Storen, who had reportedly mandated him to study the possibility of starting a professional competition throughout Europe.He took part in a meeting on 3 February with French club officials such as Guy Papineau (president of ASPO Tours) or René Fiolet (president of Caen BC) to gage interest in the project.The meeting was productive and a league structure was announced soon after, with a calendar ranging from the following October to April involving eight teams based in major European cities (five franchises in France, Belgium and Israel were said to be ready).