BASKETBALL: EuroLeague CEO wants any NBA Europe deal to work for both sides

LONDON- EuroLeague Basketball is prepared to compete with NBA Europe if it does not form a partnership with the proposed league, which is backed by the sport's governing body FIBA and the NBA and plans to launch in October 2027, CEO Chus Bueno said.

The NBA has received many bids within and exceeding the $500 million to $1 billion range in each of its 12 target cities, including from more than 20 existing basketball and football clubs, many of which are EuroLeague teams.

The EuroLeague would like to share its expertise in Europe with the NBA in return for help from the American league but is ready to go it alone unless a deal is mutually beneficial.

"If we don't get a deal in Europe, we're going to compete in Europe ... that's the discussion that we had internally, and if we have to, we're ready," said Bueno, CEO since February 2026, alluding to EuroLeague's signed sponsorship and TV deals.

"It has to be a partnership that works for both of us, not just for one of us," he told Reuters on Thursday.

"We know the NBA can help operate things, so we should follow the NBA and they should follow the local IP (brand value) of clubs because they've been on the ground for 100 years and they can bring also a lot to the table for the NBA," Bueno added.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in July that the hope was to "create some sort of consolidation of European basketball."

"I remain optimistic that we're going to be able to accomplish that," he said.

PARTNERSHIP BENEFITS

A partnership between the EuroLeague and the NBA would offset some major hurdles if a deal can be agreed.

"If you have two leagues ... this is going to create fragmentation of the value, institutionally but also commercially, in media rights, fan attendance," Bueno said.

Despite the challenges, both organisations are moving forward with their plans with and without each other.

"We both said that if we don't have a deal, we have to keep going with our plans. So, as you know, they keep going through the process, and I keep going with my plan."

NBA Europe is expected to feature 16 teams, with 12 permanent franchises and four annual qualifiers.

The plan includes using the FIBA Basketball Champions League as a feeder into NBA Europe. The NBA Europe winners may enter a mid-season NBA Cup in Europe that could create a worldwide confederation of teams from multiple continents, extending to clubs from the Basketball Africa League.

“You could imagine teams from Europe, potentially Africa, competing in that tournament,” Silver said at the Bloomberg Philanthropies Global Forum at the United Nations on Wednesday.

“You possibly could see teams coming into our playoffs, top seeds from other leagues. But over time, I think, for example, certainly in Europe as plane travel gets faster ... there’s no reason if we had four teams in Europe, you couldn't travel, play the Knicks or Nets, travel to London, play three, four times in Europe, come back home. I think it’s very doable in our league."

Regarding the hypothetical intersection between the NBA and proposed NBA Europe, Silver described a scenario in which teams from both leagues could meet, perhaps even in the NBA playoffs.

STAR ATTRACTION

Bob Dorfman, a sports marketing analyst, thinks NBA Europe would attract many of Europe's leading players.

"I would not bet against NBA Europe in a competition with the EuroLeague, given the NBA's tremendous financial resources, name recognition and star power," he said.

"With so many international stars playing in the NBA in the U.S., it would be expected that the best European players would opt for NBA Europe, where salaries would be higher and the open gameplay more suitable to individual success."

Meanwhile, the EuroLeague aims to expand to 24 teams from 20 for the 2027-28 season, when 21 teams will become permanent franchises. The current 13 shareholders' licences will be converted into franchises without a fee.

The organisation will award up to eight new long-term franchises in cities where EuroLeague is looking to expand.

"We're talking Paris, London, Milan, Naples, big cities that we want to explore how we can have franchises there," Bueno said, adding it currently has "12 binding proposals" with a combined value of a little over €800 million in fees.

EuroLeague, which was founded in 2000, will commence its regular season starting with 11-time champions Real Madrid facing off against UAE-based Dubai on September 24.

Olympiacos are the defending champions, having beaten Real in last year's final to win their fourth title.

Reporting by Streisand Neto; Editing by Ken Ferris and Rod Nickel/Reuters