European club basketball could change hands. On October 5, EuroLeague club owners will meet at Villa d'Este on the shores of Lake Como for a summit organized by Olimpia Milano. Such gatherings are rare and typically reserved for decisions that could redefine the competition.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, a potential NBA offer to acquire the EuroLeague could be presented at that meeting, following Monday's board of governors meeting. It's worth emphasizing the conditional: this is being discussed as a possibility, not a formalized proposal.
Two paths on the table
The dilemma is framed in fairly clear terms.
The first option would be to accept an NBA proposal and open a new chapter under the umbrella of the world's most powerful basketball league. The second would be to move forward with the strategy that the competition's CEO, Chus Bueno, has already presented to the clubs: expand the league and transition toward a permanent franchise model.
And that second path is not just a plan on paper. According to reports, the process has already attracted binding franchise proposals totaling close to 700 million euros in entry fees. In other words, the EuroLeague has committed funds to go it alone if it chooses to.
The context: the NBA already has its own European project
The key to understanding this move lies in what the NBA has been preparing on its own for months: its own European league, set to launch in 2027. With that project underway, the North American league faces two possible paths to enter Europe: compete against the EuroLeague or acquire it.
Bueno has made clear that a partnership remains possible, but also that the European competition is prepared to move forward independently if no agreement is reached. That is exactly the negotiating position that will be tested on October 5.
Why it matters for Spain
Four Spanish clubs compete in the EuroLeague—Real Madrid, Barcelona, Baskonia, and Valencia Basket—and either scenario would directly affect them.
A permanent franchise model would change the relationship between the European competition and domestic leagues, and would raise uncomfortable questions about how the ACB fits in. An acquisition by the NBA would also imply a change in governance, access criteria, and presumably economic structure.
All of this comes, moreover, at a time when the continental landscape is already shifting through other channels: Dubai's emergence with spending power well above average, Monaco's economic collapse after reaching the final, or the creation of new tournaments like Abu Dhabi's SuperCup. These are symptoms of the same thing: a competition seeking a new business model.
What is decided in Como will determine what form it ultimately takes.