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oct 01 2026EuroLeague reaches the decisive week of its model overhaul with a shortlist on the table and a message its leaders keep repeating: franchises are not awarded to the highest bidder. On Monday and Tuesday, at the General Assembly the competition holds at Lake Como, the thirteen member clubs must choose eight new partners from eleven candidacies that have already passed the first round. Valencia Basket is one of them.
The closed franchise system moves forward regardless of what happens with the NBA, whose possible alliance offer remains in the air. The organization has received at least two dozen binding proposals from clubs and investors in recent months, and now comes the uncomfortable work: eliminating candidates.
The Eleven That Already Passed the Filter
The list of aspirants that have done their homework consists of Valencia Basket, Virtus Bologna, Paris Basketball, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Red Star, Partizan, PAOK, Napoli, Dubai Basketball, London Lions, and Umana Reyer Venezia. Several of them are already playing this season in the EuroLeague with temporary licenses, so what is at stake in Como is not entry, but permanence forever.
At the last minute, Hapoel Jerusalem, Aris Thessaloniki, Besiktas, and Zenit St. Petersburg have also asked to enter the selection process, the latter for when the conflict with Ukraine ends. If the competition admits them, the funnel narrows even further.
The First Criterion Is Sporting
Before the finances comes the court. EuroLeague wants to measure the competitive level of each club, its track record, its structure, and above all, its capacity to sustain itself at the top year after year. A brilliant economic project with a team incapable of competing does not work: the stated objective is to raise the standard, not dilute it.
Who's Behind It and With What Resources
The second block is ownership. Resources, stability, real solvency. The competition is subjecting applicants to a second due diligence, a thorough audit to verify the information they have presented and detect risks. Here it is about ensuring there is money not for one year, but to sustain million-euro investments over a decade.
Added to that is reputation: track record, institutional credibility, behavior on and off the court. A new shareholder must be a reliable partner for the other twelve and not an image problem.
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Market, Fanbase, and Television
The fourth major factor is the market each candidacy opens: population, economic potential, capacity to attract sponsors and fans, possibility of entering new territories. London is the obvious example of a market to conquer, while Italy, Greece, or France bring tradition and an established fanbase.
Linked to that is the social base. Filling arenas, generating audience, sparking interest beyond the city itself. The competition seeks clubs that function as growth engines and bring followers it does not currently have.
The Entry Fee Won't Be Decisive
The eleven finalist binding offers total close to €700 million, and adding those that arrived at the last minute the figure could approach €1 billion. Still, EuroLeague insists that the entry fee will not necessarily be the deciding factor: the price must be proportional to the quality of the project and what each candidate brings to the whole.
The second due diligence functions as a final exam. Sporting, economic, ownership, reputation, market, fanbase, and growth capacity all converge in a single evaluation. Deliberations are already underway and the names will be known in Como.
What's at Stake for Valencia
For Spanish basketball, the matter has a name. Valencia Basket is the only club from the Liga Endesa on the list of eleven and aspires to sit at the table where Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Baskonia currently sit. Passing the first round guarantees nothing, but it places it among the candidates with the best chances: consolidated structure, arena, fanbase, and a current season already being played in the competition.
