NBA and EuroLeague Plus FIBA to Restart Negotiations for Potential 24-Team League

The NBA and WNBA seem to enjoy the pressure of completing things in the 11th hour. And the National Basketball Association is once again somewhat with “backs against the wall” attempting to strike a deal before time runs out when it comes to European basketball. This week, the NBA and EuroLeague plus FIBA plan to restart negotiations for a potential 24-team league.

According to Aris Barkas who has tracked this development from the start; he reveals,

“The end of March is also the end of the bidding process for the NBA Europe potential investors, but after many twists and turns the future of European basketball may end up being a collaboration between all major stakeholders.

The NBA Europe project continues to be on track preparing for a 2027 tipoff. With the question now being if we will end up with a joint competition that will also include EuroLeague.

According to many sources close to the bidding process, the interest for the NBA project is coming mainly from US funds, that are aiming for the UK and Rome, while there’s also local interest for Paris. Due to the ongoing war in the Middle East, Arabian funds are currently more reluctant. However, there’s money on the table, even if everyone agrees at this point that nobody is willing to pay a $500M fee to enter the new league.

FIBA from their side wants to have open dates on the European competitions calendars to accommodate the national teams “windows.” And also to have a clear path for qualification to the top tier club competition that will also include the domestic leagues.

If the EuroLeague and the NBA gets a financial deal, then the FIBA demands are expected to also be respected. In that case, a scenario of 24-team competition is possible in order to accomodate as many – new and old – clubs as possible that are able to be part of the top competition level in Europe.”

Previous talks regarding this situation fell completely apart back in 2024. The EuroLeague did not remotely have the same valuation as it does now in 2026; leading to the NBA having way more leverage during discussions. Two years ago, the Association proposed essentially taking control of the EuroLeague and having 51% of the ownership for providing their managerial and financial expertise. This proposal is why the talks never took any meaningful shape.

However, the NBA had a point. The NBA came to the negotiating table in a much stronger position. The EuroLeague was valued at €1B back in 2024 when the discussions with private equity firms, including: EQT, BC Partners, and General Atlantic, started about a potential sale of an ownership stake.

Nonetheless, this situation is now not exactly the same. EuroLeague is more valuable. Just two years later, the value of the league is finally up 40% at  €1.41B, and, including the clubs, this number jumps to €3.2B.

NBA and EuroLeague Plus FIBA to Restart Negotiations for Potential 24-Team League

In a recent press release, EuroLeague wanted to make clear that business is booming, it mentioned,

“JB Capital has delivered a comprehensive valuation report to EuroLeague leadership and its member clubs, placing the combined enterprise value of the league and its licensed teams at over €3.2 billion.

The report values the league itself at €1.41 billion for the 2025–26 season, and, applying the same valuation multiple to the 2026–27 season estimated EBITDA, at €1.64 billion. These projections are underpinned by strong financial fundamentals, with league management forecasting sustained revenue and EBITDA growth exceeding a 10% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from the 2022–23 through the 2034–35 seasons.

At the club level, the analysis estimates the aggregate valuation of all licensed teams at approximately €1.8 billion. Individual club valuations were derived using revenue-based multiples, with figures ranging from over €60 million to more than €320 million, reflecting the growing commercial strength and competitive profile of participating organizations.”

So then, it looks as though all sides shall return to the table. A meeting will be held this week in order to create and try to hash out this possible joint project with FIBA, the NBA as well as the EuroLeague. Therefore, instead of two rival leagues, with the NBA and EuroLeague competing for fan attention and viewership. We may just end up with a scenario of a joint 24-team league.

As Aris Barkas is emphasizing online, this situation is picking up steam. Aris concludes, “Negotiations between NBA and EuroLeague to start again soon with the goal of a possible collaboration. Since this [story] has travelled to the US and many guys don’t follow the story, an important clarification: The NBA Europe project will include ONLY European teams, at least for the foreseeable future.”

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