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EuroLeague clubs rejected a formal NBA merger offer to create a single NBA Europe league after a rare meeting on Lake Como in Italy, sources confirmed to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst on Tuesday.
The NBA submitted the offer after more than two years of work on the new league. The rejection was not unexpected, sources said, as EuroLeague clubs consider their own expansion plans amid the NBA’s planned entrance into the European marketplace. Front Office Sports first reported the EuroLeague’s rejection of the proposal, which several European media outlets have described as a “buyout” offer.
NBA Europe Plans Still Moving Forward
Despite the rejection, plans for NBA Europe will go forward with the intent of forming a 16-team league that could start as early as the 2027-28 season, sources told ESPN. The NBA has received lucrative bids on expansion franchises in cities across Europe and plans to create teams that could compete with the EuroLeague for fans, media rights and sponsorship dollars.
NBA owners were briefed on NBA Europe during last month’s board of governors meeting in New York and view the venture as a long-term play. “This is a 20-year project,” one owner told ESPN. “And that’s how we’re approaching it.”
According to high-ranking European basketball officials involved in the negotiations, a significant number of the 13 permanent EuroLeague teams have expressed interest in joining NBA Europe, creating a fractured picture even as the coalition has held against the NBA’s recruitment so far. Negotiations are expected to continue, sources said.
The model the NBA has pursued would allow teams to compete in national leagues on desired weekend days and play in NBA Europe during the week, with expanded rosters to support multiple competitions and a focus on European player development, sources said.
European basketball last split in 2000-01, when the ULEB broke from a FIBA-led league before the sides combined the following year and the modern EuroLeague emerged.
Fans following NBA expansion and overseas basketball markets can track the story on online sportsbooks and US sportsbooks, alongside recent NBA coverage such as RG’s report on Jalen Duren’s Pistons extension.