Euroleague Rejects Nba Europe Initial Merger Proposal, More Negotiations To Come

NBA Europe will not merge with the EuroLeague — the continent's preeminent basketball competition — at least not on the terms the NBA initially proposed, after EuroLeague shareholders rejected the NBA's proposal, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport and other reports.

However, those same stakeholders also put planned EuroLeague expansion on hold, something else the NBA requested, opening the door to future negotiations and some kind of working agreement.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has made it clear the league plans to launch NBA Europe a year from now, in the fall of 2027, and doing so has been a priority for NBA owners (who essentially see it as free money). The NBA's plan calls for 12 permanent teams and four open spots teams could play their way into through domestic leagues and tournaments. The NBA is expecting franchise fees in the $500 million to $1 billion range for each of the 12 permanent members.

The EuroLeague has 13 permanent members at its core, although at least some of them are considering jumping to NBA Europe. Ultimately, some kind of cooperative agreement makes sense for both sides, at least for the next few years.

"We believe that [NBA Europe] would be strengthened by joining forces with the EuroLeague," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said after last month's Board of Governors meeting. "It doesn't have to happen, but I think we all would be better off as a unified front in Europe."

That unified front is not going to happen on the terms the NBA initially proposed, which was unanimously shot down by the EuroLeague stakeholders, according to reports. Joe Varden at The Athletic put it this way.

One source told The Athletic the rejection was "expected," while another said there remains "a willingness to negotiate," but the EuroLeague owners "didn't like the terms."

"A few clubs are anti-NBA Europe, but a bulk of the clubs (just) didn't like the proposal," one European team executive said. Without a merger with EuroLeague, according to a source from a likely NBA Europe franchise, an October 2027 launch for Silver's new league would be "impossible."

The dozen NBA markets the NBA wants to have its permanent teams in include Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Madrid, London, Berlin, Athens and others. Not all of those cities have major EuroLeague basketball powers — for example, London and Manchester, England — and those would be essentially new or raised-up smaller local teams, ideally tied to one of the soccer powerhouse clubs in those cities.

The NBA is looking at bids for those dozen teams now.

"For us, in terms of NBA Europe, we truly see it as a once-in-forever opportunity," Silver said. "As I mentioned before, historic from our standpoint in terms of what this could mean, not just for basketball but the European sport landscape. And we want to get it right."

Now, the NBA also will have to sit down with the EuroLeague and work out a deal that makes more sense to the teams across the pond that makes more financial sense to them.

In the short term, the NBA will play two regular-season games in Europe this season, with Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs facing the New Orleans Pelicans in Paris on Jan. 14 and Manchester, England, on Jan. 17. This will be the first-ever NBA game in Manchester.