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oct 06 2026EuroLeague has said no to the NBA, at least for now. The owners of the 13 shareholder clubs of the competition, meeting Tuesday at Villa d'Este in Cernobbio, on the shores of Lake Como, rejected the proposal that the American league had presented to them to join its European project. The offer expired today. However, according to Reuters, the door to future conversations remains open.
The meeting had an unusual format: instead of executive directors, the club owners themselves sat at the table, precisely because of the need to define a future strategy.
An offer with two conditions
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the NBA's proposal required a response before the end of the meeting and was based on a key condition: that EuroLeague maintain its current structure of 13 shareholders and halt its plan to grow to 24 teams.
The clubs' response was not unanimous in tone. According to Greek media SDNA, Olympiacos owner Giorgos Angelopoulos called the offer "unacceptable" and "colonialist," and Barcelona took it almost as a joke. In contrast, Real Madrid, Panathinaikos, and Fenerbahçe were in favor of giving more time to negotiations, and the Spanish club even asked for another 30 days for the NBA to present an improved proposal. That position prevailed: reject the offer, but not break off dialogue.
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Expansion to 24 teams, up in the air
The major internal issue of the meeting was the ten-year strategic plan: converting the 13 shareholders into permanent franchises and expanding the competition from 20 to 24 teams starting in the 2027-28 season. According to EuroLeague's own statement, reported by Hoops Rumors, the owners agreed to move forward with that process.
There was, however, no formal decision on who will occupy the new spots. A source present at the meeting explained to Reuters that the allocation of the new long-term licenses will be decided within a month. According to La Gazzetta, moreover, the owners agreed to slow down the expansion while conversations with the NBA continue, as a gesture to keep negotiations alive. That month of leeway coincides with the extension that Real Madrid requested.
NBA Europe, with or without EuroLeague
The NBA, for its part, maintains its schedule. Its NBA Europe project is set to launch in October 2027 with 16 teams, and both Adam Silver and FIBA have repeated that it will move forward with or without an agreement.
Doubts about that timeline, however, are growing. A senior sports executive told Reuters that collaboration between both parties is unlikely before 2028, due to the difficulty of organizing a new competition in time for the 2027-28 season. And according to The Athletic, an executive from a club that would be part of NBA Europe considers an October 2027 launch "impossible" without a merger with EuroLeague. The same outlet reports that at least six EuroLeague clubs are studying making the jump to the NBA's project.
The scenario that opens up, if there is no agreement, is that of two elite competitions competing for the same clubs, players, sponsors, and audiences on the same continent.
