What’s happened?
In December, FIBA and the NBA outlined their plans to launch a new league in Europe. Andreas Zagklis, the secretary general of the sport’s global governing body, earmarked October 2027 as a potential launch date and announced that the pair will move forward with the search for teams and ownership groups from this month.
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The NBA and FIBA first announced plans for a new 16-team European league in March 2025 and have since brought in JP Morgan Chase and Raine Group as strategic advisors.
That proposed competition will be crafted to fit around the existing European basketball calendar, ensuring sides can compete in both domestic and international competition, and that players can represent both their club and national teams freely.
The organizations have begun steps to fill out the roster of permanent member teams, with both existing European soccer giants, such as Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, and prominent investment funds linked to the project.
Discussions with investors, arena real estate developers, existing teams, and prospective commercial partners have already taken place and will continue throughout this exploratory process.
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By GlobalDataWithin the planned 16-team league would be 12 permanent franchises, with target countries for those teams including the UK (with the potential host cities there being London and Manchester), France (Paris and Lyon), Spain (Madrid and Barcelona), Italy (Rome and Milan), Germany (Munich and Berlin), Greece (Athens) and Turkey (Istanbul).
At a FIBA-organized press conference attended by Sportcal (GlobalData Sport) last month, Zagklis confirmed that existing club basketball teams from across Europe will be invited to participate in the NBA Europe project, stating that there will be a ‘merit-based’ pathway for club sides to qualify, either through FIBA’s existing Basketball Champions League (BCL) tournament, or a qualifying play-in competition.
The plan is for the league to initially be funded by the selected member clubs.
During a visit to Europe last week, as the NBA staged regular-season games in Berlin and London, commissioner Adam Silver said: “We continue to be enormously excited about it [an NBA Europe league].
“We’ve been meeting with clubs that are interested in participating in our league. We’ve been in discussions with other potential stakeholders, including media companies that would like to cover it, potential media partners, and traditional sponsors who want to work with us on the league.
“We’re looking at the opportunity to grow the arena infrastructure throughout the continent. It’s something that we’re enormously excited about.”
The wider picture
With qualification entry to NBA Europe now on the cards through BCL and domestic league participation, more teams may defect from the established EuroLeague to FIBA competition, as the increased financial incentives that come with the NBA brand could be too much for teams to pass up.
The clubs most affected will be the EuroLeague’s 12 permanent member teams, all of which are shareholders in the competition, meaning their financial security is tied to the EuroLeague’s success in a way that non-permanent members are not.
Attention is particularly on three EuroLeague shareholder clubs that haven't renewed their 10-year licenses: Real Madrid, Fenerbahce in Istanbul, and LDLC Asvel Villeurbanne, the French club owned by NBA legend Tony Parker (who has already signaled his support for the new NBA-backed league).
Barcelona, also a target for the NBA, officially extended with the EuroLeague yesterday for another 10 years (up to the 2036–37 season). Notably, however, the deal includes a reported €10 million ($11.6 million) buyout clause that still gives the club flexibility to exit.
But Euroleague Basketball CEO Paulius Motiejunas recently stated that contracts can only be broken through "consequences and legal teams" and stressed there is no NBA opt-out.
Despite its commitment to the EuroLeague competition, Barcelona were among eight teams that attended a private meeting with the NBA and FIBA in London on Monday. They were joined by Panathinaikos, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Olimpia Milano, and Asvel, alongside soccer side AC Milan and Alba Berlin, which recently defected from the EuroLeague after 24 years to join the BCL.
Key points discussed in the meeting included financial projections on NBA Europe and talks with potential investors, business partners, and sponsors. Executives of soccer clubs that do not have basketball teams were also present at the meeting.
According to Eurohoops, Euroleague Basketball has reportedly informed the NBA of its plans to take legal action if the US league has engaged in discussions with clubs already committed to the EuroLeague about joining the project.
The organizers of the European club competition recently sent a letter to the NBA and informed all clubs currently holding an A license of their stance.
Euroleague Basketball has railed against the rival project from the outset, stating that it stands “as a threat to the long-standing traditions of European basketball” and that it may “risk fragmentation and confusion within the sport.”
The supremacy of the 26-year-old EuroLeague in the European basketball landscape will face a challenge, but the competition organizers, so far, appear unfazed.
Speaking last week, Motiejunas said: "We've only heard the plan or the fireworks of how amazing it will be, how much potential there is. But having a theory is one – and making it work is two. We've been here for 26 years. We know how Europe functions."
"The NBA has been announcing and announcing things for a year, but still, it's nothing that you can grasp onto. As businessmen, these are team owners. They also begin to see it's a little bit of a broken record of 'we will announce later.' … The 2027 start is already around the corner."
What’s next?
Media reports indicate the NBA is looking for a franchise fee between $500 million and $1 billion.
According to The Athletic, Silver has been eyeing wealthy investors from the Middle East to start the new league. Sovereign wealth funds can currently control a maximum of 20% of NBA teams, but that rule won’t apply to the European venture.
Silver noted that any investors will have to be patient because “it will take a while before it is a viable commercial enterprise” and added that it will be “multi-decades in the making.”
“What we are telling interested parties is that you need to have a very long-term perspective,” he outlined.
The NBA commissioner also said he wants to "tap into" Europe's soccer culture as part of the plans for the proposed league. Talks have been held with English clubs Manchester City and Manchester United, though it is understood that neither intends to have a team should the venture come to fruition.
Conrad Wiacek, head of analysis and consulting at Sportcal (GlobalData Sport), comments: “With the NBA setting its sights on the European market, the stage is set for a war with the EuroLeague, one that the EuroLeague is unlikely to win.
“With the NBA targeting some of the most established European teams to form the cornerstone of its European arm, bringing global alignment to the sport, the commercial opportunities for those teams will simply be too large to ignore and too large for the Euroleague to counter.
“While some will bemoan the Americanisation of European basketball, the reality is that the commercial opportunity that NBA Europe presents for the teams and European basketball in general, across sponsorship and media rights, is too great to pass up.
“While the EuroLeague will hope that teams show loyalty to them and to the European basketball structure, unless it has a commercial proposal that can offer a serious roadmap to commercial growth, it is likely most teams will jump ship just to have a chance at being as commercially successful as the 30 teams that make up the NBA.”
Despite the tension, Euroleague Basketball is open to a collaboration with the NBA to support the ongoing growth of the sport in the region.
In a recent interview with Sportcal (GlobalData Sport), Gawain Davies, Euroleague Basketball’s chief commercial officer, explained how a unification of the sport could be the way forward, rather than a division.
He said: “There's constant communication with the NBA and FIBA, and we see that there is an opportunity, potentially, to create synergies on European basketball. 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, and the strength of our clubs.”
Read: EuroLeague embraces change with expansion and revamped commercial strategy
