The 2025-26 EuroLeague season marks a landmark campaign for the continental club competition, as it expands to 20 teams for its 26th year.
Euroleague Basketball, the organizer of the semi-closed competition, had long planned to add two new teams to expand the 18-team format. However, the recent defection of Alba Berlin to the rival FIBA Basketball Champions League necessitated the inclusion of a third.
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The additions of Hapoel Tel Aviv (Israel), the reigning champions of the second-tier EuroCup, and Valencia Basket (Spain), who lost to Hapoel in the semi-final and were relegated from the EuroLeague following the 2023-24 campaign, were expected, but the entry of Dubai Basketball Club represented a shift.
Dubai BC have become the first team outside of Europe to compete in the EuroLeague, receiving a five-year wild card after participating in the ABA League, a competition for teams across the Balkans.
This comes after the showpiece season-ending EuroLeague Final Four was held outside the continent for the first time, with Abu Dhabi hosting.
“It's a big move [adding Dubai BC], we'd obviously made a move to the Middle East by taking the Final Four to Abu Dhabi, and that was helpful because we saw the potential of basketball in the region,” Gawain Davies, Euroleague Basketball’s chief commercial officer, explains.
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By GlobalData“And the reality is, there is a big appetite for basketball in the region, so there's clearly an opportunity there, and we saw how Abu Dhabi reacted to us when we took the Final Four there, which was very interesting.
“We also saw how our fans were prepared to travel to the Middle East. It made sense, and clearly, we're trying to grow the league, and there are various areas we're trying to grow the league; the Middle East is one of them, but it's not the only one. We see the Middle East as a growth potential, and we see Western Europe as continuing growth potential.”
The EuroLeague has an option to return the Final Four to Abu Dhabi in 2027 and 2029, with next year’s season climax heading to Athens, Greece.
New commercial strategy
The Middle East is a strategic target market for Euroleague Basketball, with last season’s Final Four creating long-term commercial opportunities for the organization.
The Experience Abu Dhabi tourism brand and Etihad Airways were recently unveiled as main sponsors of Euroleague competitions and presenting partners of the Final Four through 2029, strengthening ties with the region.
We’re proud to welcome @etihad & @VisitAbuDhabi as Main Partners of EuroLeague, bringing unforgettable journeys and experiences on and off the court.🏀 #Euroleague #Etihad #InAbuDhabi pic.twitter.com/R8vIlV4OiC
— EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) September 24, 2025
Indeed, Sportcal (GlobalData Sport) understands that the new main partner deals are almost three times the value of the previous title sponsorship with Turkish Airlines.
A broadcast deal with Dubai Media covering the MENA region for the next five seasons was also secured in late September.
This meant that the timing was right for European basketball’s elite competition to increase its footprint in the Middle East, having restructured its commercial model.
“The Final Four allowed the market and the region to really feel the EuroLeague, and that has led to us being able to strike a few deals on the partnership side at a time when it made sense, as our title sponsorship deal was ending,” Davies says.
“That timing worked well, and what we've been able to do is restructure our partnership model and not have a title sponsor to the league this season.
“We think this is a positive thing for our other partners. It will help us build a EuroLeague brand in isolation, which is important for what we're trying to achieve in our strategy. We've made a lot of changes to what we do in the partnership side of the business, and we've got half the number of partners than two years ago, and 50% more revenue.
“We're more aggressive in our go-to-market and we need to have the flexibility to negotiate deals that make sense, and these deals do, coming from this market at this moment in time for EuroLeague.”
The biggest shift in commercial strategy for Euroleague Basketball was the decision to move away from a title sponsor and not renew a 15-year agreement with Turkish Airlines.
Now known simply as the EuroLeague, the competition also launched a new visual identity and stated that, going forward, it will focus on engaging with “emerging markets” on a deeper level, and securing “innovative” new commercial and media partnerships to grow its profile globally.
The last renewal with Turkish Airlines dates back to mid-2020, valued at around $12.5 million per year.
With talks over an extension not proving fruitful, however, the league has now chosen to move in a new direction.
“The first thing I did when I joined the league was a deep dive evaluation on the deals we had in place, and that deal specifically [with Turkish Airlines],” Davies outlines. “When we got into the data of it, the number of rights and assets in that package was enormous and delivered huge value.
“It's like Champions League partner value, and we weren’t getting Champions League level money. There was, in my opinion, a discrepancy. Turkish Airlines had been the title partner for 15 years, and they were part of the story of the league and were fantastic partners.”
Davies adds: “To be fair to Turkish Airlines, they tried hard to find a road to renewal, and we did as well, but we just ended up too far apart. But it gave us an opportunity when we were reading the tea leaves. We looked to see if there was more of an optimal model for the league at this moment, and we thought that being able to have our brand front and center, not linked to another brand, was a good thing, and it certainly helps other partners.
“No other sponsor likes using another brand in their communication, and that's what we did. We dropped those rights down into two packages and built in a presenting partner to the Final Four and also the playoffs, which is a time of season we should do much more with as well creatively. From a revenue and brand perspective, it's been the right decision.”
The heavyweight IMG agency continues to serve as Euroleague Basketball’s commercial rights distribution partner after the long-term relationship was renewed in January for another 11 years.
The tie-up with IMG, which Davies describes as “a very strong partner”, covers media rights, brand partnerships, strategic consulting, digital services, and streaming.
Earlier this year, IMG – including the Euroleague Basketball joint venture – was sold to TKO Group Holdings (another part of the wider Endeavor Group), to further bolster the commercial capabilities on offer.
Reach and value
Growth was a key trend across the 2024-25 campaign, with over three million fans attending EuroLeague regular season games, making it the most attended in the competition’s history.
𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐃-𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐍𝐔𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐒💯
EuroLeague regular season attendance sets new record as more than 3 million fans attended games in person this season👏#EveryGameMatters pic.twitter.com/suC83Ts8Ut
— EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) April 22, 2025
The average attendance reached a record 10,589 spectators per game, surpassing last season’s mark of 10,383, representing a 2% increase. This meant the attendance record was broken for a fourth consecutive season, as the league’s following continues to increase.
In terms of viewership and digital engagement, meanwhile, the EuroLeague’s social media platforms saw double-digit growth in all key metrics, with total impressions reaching a record 1.5 billion.
Total video views surged by 56%, totaling 816 million, while engagement rose by 21%. Meanwhile, EuroLeague.TV, the league’s official over-the-top platform, saw a 37% increase in subscriptions.
The league has particularly seen significant growth in the German market, which it claims has grown 46% in the last four years, boosted by the country’s triumph in the 2023 FIBA World Cup and recent EuroBasket.
After 26 years, the EuroLeague is arguably in its healthiest position both on and off the court, significantly raising the value of the competition.
Last year, Euroleague Basketball CEO Paulius Motiejunas confirmed reports that the league held talks with private equity firm BC Partners to sell a minority stake. According to the Financial Times publication, the basketball property was looking to sell roughly a third of its business for more than €300 million, valuing the organisation at around €1 billion. By the end of the season, the Euroleague valuation is expected to increase by 50%.
Despite talks with BC Partners stalling, the league is not closing the door to private investment, but Davies insists that the growth of the business over the past 12 months has driven up its valuation.
“There have been some discussions, and that gave us the ability to get an indicative valuation of the league, and at that time, it was around €1 billion,” Davies explains. “We've grown the business since then, so the valuation is now over €1 billion.
“Our plan in the next five years is to drive that valuation for the league to €3 billion. That's very much our top headline strategy. We're confident about being able to do that, and that's a great thing for our shareholders and clubs, where we continue to grow the revenue for the league, and its value.
“The more you can grow the league, it opens optionality in terms of whether the league and owners were to look at some kind of investment at some point, whether that be by private equity or another institution, and they would have the flexibility to do that. It doesn't seem to be on the radar immediately.”
European basketball landscape
After almost three decades of existence, the EuroLeague has established itself as the dominant force in European basketball, but has faced competition from the BCL over the past 10 years, with Alba Berlin’s decision to defect this season after 24 years of competing in EuroLeague-organized competitions (12 in the EuroLeague and 12 in the secondary EuroCup) coming as a blow.
In the coming years, the EuroLeague could potentially face another challenge to its supremacy in the region, with the NBA looking into the possibility of creating a European league.
In April, the EuroLeague Basketball board of directors released a statement opposing this proposition and said that while it could support a joint growth initiative, any venture that would undermine the EuroLeague would not be supported.
The statement went on to say that the EuroLeague views any regional league expansion by the NBA into the continent “as a threat to the long-standing traditions of European basketball. Such developments would risk fragmentation and confusion within the sport.”
Over recent months, the NBA has been in discussions with stakeholders in Europe to form a new European league in partnership with FIBA. In March, the two organisations announced plans to pursue this, which could alter the basketball landscape on the continent.
The proposed league could include affiliate teams of major soccer clubs such as Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, and may potentially look to attract basketball powerhouses like Real Madrid and Barcelona, long-term EuroLeague licence holders.
In Davies’ eyes, unification of the sport could be the way forward, rather than a division.
“There's constant communication with the NBA and FIBA, and we see that there is an opportunity, potentially, to create synergies on European basketball,” he says. “But one thing is for sure, fragmentation isn't really going to be a positive for anyone, and I'm speaking more personally.
“Is the NBA prepared to come to the table and sit down and discuss that? Yes, they are, because conversations are happening. It feels like there's still more to come on this; it's still unclear.
“But we're in a really good position, given where the business is, the strength of our clubs as well, and we're also very cognizant of the fact that there are things that the NBA does which they’re very good at, which we still are not doing so much, like merchandising and licensing, direct to consumer, which we're working on."
In September, on this frront, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said an NBA Europe league could begin play in 2027 or 2028. The process has been moving rapidly, and a substantial move was made in August when the NBA brought on JPMorgan Chase and Raine Group to advise on finances and strategy going forward.
Silver claimed that basketball is the number two sport in Europe behind soccer, an assertion Davies disagrees with, given the sport's standing in the continent’s biggest markets – the UK, France, Germany, and Italy – but insists it’s “growing hugely.”
The NBA chief and deputy commissioner, Mark Tatum, have had meetings with political leaders, teams, media companies, possible investors, and other stakeholders across Europe, while work continues in the league office to make the project happen.
For Euroleague Basketball, as custodians of the sport in the region, the priority is ultimately to create the best product for fans, and it sees collaboration as the key to delivering that.
“That is the way forward,” Davies concludes. “The duty is to create something incredible for the fans, and if you do that, then that's going to be successful. We absolutely are talking to them [the NBA] and we’re open to seeing if it's possible to find a pathway, understanding that any proposal should deliver value to all stakeholders and to European basketball as a whole.
“European basketball is quite different from American basketball, as are European basketball fans from American fans. The heritage and the history of these clubs, where they come from, the passion of the fan base, and the competitiveness should not be underestimated in any perceived new model for basketball in Europe. It's really interesting, we'll see what happens.”
