WASHINGTON - Jason Levien, the Jewish-American sports executive at the center of the ownership battle gripping Maccabi Tel Aviv Basketball, spoke publicly for the first time Wednesday about the possibility of becoming a significant shareholder in the Israeli powerhouse.
"There's a lot going on there. It's an interesting opportunity," Levien told The Jerusalem Post in an exclusive interview in Washington.
"I love the club and I love what it represents. I'm very close to some of the key shareholders, like Shimon Mizrahi, who has run the club for 50 years, and it's an honor that they're considering me for such a role."
Asked directly whether he would move forward with joining Maccabi Tel Aviv if arbitration between the club's shareholders clears the way, Levien declined to get ahead of the legal proceedings.
"Of course, we're going to let the legal process play out," he said. "I'm going to stay very close to Shimon, to Udi, the Recanati family, and to follow the process professionally and legally. But it's an honor that they're considering me for this opportunity and that they came to me and asked me to be a part of their community."
A battle over ownership
The comments come amid a complex fight over the future ownership of one of Israel's most prominent sports clubs.
The Recanati family has sought to sell Levien a significant stake in Maccabi, a move opposed by shareholder Richard Deitz, who argues he holds a right of first refusal. The dispute was referred to arbitration, with Dr. Israel "Rali" Leshem selected to serve as arbitrator. In recent days, a separate dispute has emerged over Levien's inclusion as a party to the arbitration, prompting Deitz to take the matter to court.
Levien did not delve into the details of the fight and did not publicly take sides. His message was simpler: he is interested in Maccabi, sees the club as something special, and is prepared to wait for the legal process to run its course.
From Washington to Tel Aviv?
The Post met Levien far from the turmoil in Tel Aviv, at the launch event for DC Flight, Washington's new professional women's volleyball team, on the waterfront at The Wharf in Southwest Washington.
The event was held at The Anthem, one of the capital's best-known concert venues, which is now preparing to transform itself into a home for professional volleyball. DC Flight is set to begin play in Major League Volleyball in 2027, joining what the league describes as the fourth professional women's sports team in the Washington area.
For Levien, who already has extensive experience building sports franchises and venues, converting a concert hall into a home court is part of the project's appeal.
"I think it's a special place," he said of turning The Anthem into a volleyball venue. "When The Wharf came together, it really impacted the district in a meaningful way. The Anthem doing that, it's an exceptional venue."
"I think visualizing it for volleyball, it's going to be an incredible home-court advantage," he continued. "But it's going to be a place for the community to rally - a really unique opportunity for our community to celebrate the game of volleyball in a venue like this."
A veteran of American sports
Levien knows the American sports world well. He has served as co-chairman and CEO of MLS club DC United since 2012 and was a driving force behind the development of Audi Field in Washington. Before that, he served as CEO and managing partner of the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies and sat on the league's Board of Governors.
Asked what drew him specifically to women's volleyball, Levien pointed to the sport's surging participation numbers and fan base.
"Looking at the participation numbers among girls, among women, the excitement level, the fandom around volleyball - it is surging," he said. "To be a small part of that, to participate in that excitement in our home community here in Washington, it was something that we just had to do."
His interest in Maccabi Tel Aviv fits naturally into that trajectory. Levien is not a first-time financial investor in professional sports - he has already run an NBA franchise, owns and operates an MLS club, and is now helping build a new professional volleyball team from the ground up.
For the first time, Levien is publicly confirming his interest in Maccabi. Whether that ultimately ends with him taking a seat at the ownership table at Yad Eliyahu remains unresolved. But from The Anthem in Washington, as his newest sports venture prepares for takeoff, Levien made one thing unmistakably clear about the opportunity waiting across the Atlantic:
"I love the club, and I love what it represents."