NBA and FIBA Say Europe League Will Go Ahead Without EuroLeague After Merger Rejection

One day after EuroLeague shareholder clubs turned down a formal merger offer, the NBA and FIBA said they remain committed to a new European men's league, while leaving the door open to a deal.

NBA, FIBA say Europe push to continue without EuroLeague — ESPN

The NBA and FIBA said Thursday that they will keep building a new professional men's league in Europe, even after EuroLeague club owners rejected the NBA's formal offer to merge the two projects. The two organizations released a joint statement on Oct. 8, 2026, as ESPN's Brian Windhorst reported from Macao, making clear that the rejection has not derailed their plans.

"A partnership between the EuroLeague, FIBA and the NBA to unify the European basketball ecosystem would unlock the game's enormous potential across Europe for the benefit of clubs, players and, most importantly, fans," the statement said. It added that the NBA and FIBA "remain committed to moving forward with a new professional men's league in Europe and helping build a stronger, more sustainable basketball ecosystem alongside partners who share our vision."

The statement followed a meeting Tuesday in Cernobbio, Italy, of the EuroLeague's 13 shareholder clubs. Barcelona confirmed Wednesday that the owners had rejected the NBA's proposal, and said club president Joan Laporta attended. The group includes Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Olympiakos, Milan, Tony Parker's ASVEL and two Istanbul-based clubs. Barcelona said the proposal was rejected "as it currently stands," and added: "Should that proposal be amended in the future, the clubs and the EuroLeague will reconsider it." It is not clear how each club voted. The EuroLeague declined to comment beyond an initial statement that described the meeting as a discussion of key strategic decisions about the future of its collective property and did not mention the NBA.

A formal offer, after nearly two years of work

EuroLeague teams reject NBA offer to merge into a single Europe operation — Yahoo Sports

According to ESPN, the NBA presented the formal merger offer last month, after nearly two years of development. The proposal would have folded the competitors into a single European operation. ESPN reported that the exchange shows rising tension between the two sides after months of talks, but that sources describe an open door to further negotiation. Barcelona's wording is consistent with that: the rejection was of the current terms, not of the idea of a deal.

Financial terms have been reported only secondhand. French daily L'Equipe reported that the NBA offered each future member 400 million euros, about $448 million. Neither the league nor the EuroLeague has confirmed that figure in the material available.

Two structures, one continent

The disagreement is partly about structure. The EuroLeague has 20 teams. Thirteen are shareholder clubs that are immune from relegation, and the rest qualify through domestic leagues or by invitation. The NBA, working with FIBA, is aiming for a 16-team model, with 12 permanent franchises and four annual qualifiers, according to NBA.com.

The EuroLeague owners also made decisions of their own Tuesday. They agreed to move forward with converting the shareholder clubs' current 10-year licenses into franchises and to continue plans to increase the number of franchises. In practical terms, the EuroLeague is moving toward a franchise-style model of its own, which narrows the gap between the two approaches in some ways while setting the two projects up as competitors.

The 2027 target

The NBA has said it plans to launch the inaugural NBA Europe season in fall 2027. In a July update on NBA.com, the league said bids for the 12 permanent teams were due at the end of June and that it had reportedly received several bids within and above a $500 million to $1 billion range in each of its 12 target cities. Teams are expected to come from existing basketball and soccer clubs as well as entirely new franchises.

Commissioner Adam Silver said at the Board of Governors meetings in July: "We've had tremendous interest from multiple cities in Europe, including cities that we didn't even ask for bids from." The NBA.com piece sketched a hypothetical opening night with Paris against Madrid, then Milan against Munich and Istanbul against London. That was an illustration of the league's thinking, not a confirmed schedule.

What to watch

Several questions are open, and the answers will be analysis rather than settled fact for now. The first is which clubs ultimately commit to the NBA's league. Several cities named in the NBA's planning, including Madrid, Milan, Munich and Istanbul, are home to EuroLeague shareholders, so any club that joins the NBA project would be choosing between two competing leagues. The NBA and FIBA's call for partners "who share our vision" suggests they expect to proceed with whichever clubs are willing.

The second is whether the EuroLeague's push toward franchises and expansion changes the calculus for clubs weighing NBA bids. The third is whether an amended offer brings the sides back to the table before 2027, as both Barcelona's statement and ESPN's reporting on an open door suggest is possible.

For now, the NBA's position is that its timeline stands. The EuroLeague's owners have said only that they will reconsider if the proposal changes.

Sources

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