NBA

NBA Europe Is Real: 12 Permanent Teams, 2027-28 Target, and a Fight With EuroLeague

By The Sports Nus Staff | October 11, 2026

The NBA is not asking permission anymore. After EuroLeague's shareholder clubs rejected a formal merger offer this week, the NBA and FIBA confirmed they are pressing ahead with NBA Europe anyway: a 16-team competition with 12 permanent franchises and four spots earned through annual qualification, targeting a launch for the 2027-28 season. The 12 markets: London, Manchester, Berlin, Munich, Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, Lyon, Milan, Rome, Athens and Istanbul.

The structure is the compromise between the American model and the European one. The 12 permanent franchises never face relegation. The four qualifying spots go to the finalists of the Basketball Champions League and the top teams from an end-of-season tournament tied to domestic championships, and those qualifiers can be relegated. The regular season is a round-robin with every team facing each other, followed by multi-round playoffs and a finals series. Games run under FIBA rules, 40 minutes instead of 48, and there will be a salary cap, though the number is not set yet.

The money tells you how serious this is. The NBA has been seeking franchise fees of at least $500 million, per AP reporting, and bids in select cities topped $1 billion. Final bids were due June 30, with more than 20 ownership groups bidding across the 12 cities in seven countries. The bidders, per commissioner Adam Silver: existing European basketball clubs, big soccer brands building basketball arms, and groups starting clubs from scratch. Sportico reported the league entity's equity would split 50-50 between NBA owners and the 12 permanent franchise owners.

Silver is selling this as a once-ever shot. "It is a sort of once-and-forever opportunity to be the NBA team in London, Paris, Madrid, Munich," he said this week. "Some of the top markets in Europe, some of the top markets in the world, and that is how people see those opportunities." On the fees: "Many hundreds of millions of dollars." NBA Europe managing director George Aivazoglou, speaking at Leaders Week London, argued there is a "serious value gap" in European basketball and that the NBA knows how to close it.

EuroLeague is not going quietly. Its 13 shareholder clubs called the NBA's merger proposal "unacceptable" after a meeting in Italy on Tuesday, though they left the door open to future talks. One club reportedly called the NBA plan "colonialist." EuroLeague is countering with its own expansion to 24 teams for 2027-28: the 13 shareholder clubs converted to franchises, eight new franchises and three guest teams. The problem for EuroLeague, per multiple reports: its leading clubs are losing money, which is exactly the value gap Aivazoglou is talking about.

The joint NBA/FIBA statement to AFP this week tried to keep it diplomatic: "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." Translation: the door is open, but the train is leaving with or without you. The working target remains October 2027, though some around the talks consider that date impossible without a EuroLeague deal, and there is speculation the debut could slide to fall 2028.

What it means

This is the biggest structural bet the NBA has ever made outside North America. Twelve permanent franchises in Europe's richest markets, backed by FIBA, with billion-dollar bids already on the table, is not an exhibition tour. It is a second league. If it launches on schedule, European basketball gets a money arms race: EuroLeague expanding to 24 teams on one side, NBA Europe's 16 on the other, both chasing the same clubs, players and TV money. Somebody's math is wrong. The NBA is betting it is not theirs.

VIA AFP, AP, Eurohoops, USA Today and Sportico. Silver and Aivazoglou quotes via Eurohoops and Leaders Week London.