Basketball in Europe could change forever as the NBA continues to push forward with their vision of setting up and establishing a European league.
And as per a report from Front Office Sports, there are 12 major European cities and markets which the NBA hopes to include as part of a 16 team league, which could see its’ first taste of action get underway in October 2027.
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The report states that these 12 cities would be London and Manchester in the UK, Madrid and Barcelona in Spain, Paris and Lyon in France, Rome and Milan in Italy, Berlin and Munich in Germany as well as the Greek city of Athens and the Turkish city of Istanbul.
Tip-off for the NBA European League is aiming for October 2027.
One NBA exec envisions a "crossover" with between the European league and the NBA through a tournament or NBA Cup.
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) November 12, 2025
George Aivazoglou, the NBA’s managing director for Europe and the Middle East, spoke at a conference organized by Italian publication Gazzetta dello Sport and he said that the European clubs could even go head to head with NBA teams in the future in NBA Cup play or at a new global tournament altogether.
“A new tournament of sorts, or competition, where you can have teams from NBA Europe play teams from [the] NBA in the U.S. And maybe over time that integration becomes even more organic,” Aivazoglou said via Front Office Sports.
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“I can see a scenario where something like the NBA Cup has four NBA teams and four European teams, or maybe in the future to create some sort of club world competition like FIFA did this past summer.”
[US, Mexico, & Canada customers only] Jan 23, 2025; Paris, FRANCE; NBA commissioner Adam Silver speaks before the Paris Games 2025 NBA basketball game between the San Antonio Spurs and Indiana Pacers at Accor Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephanie Lecocq/Reuters via Imagn Images
Overall, the NBA hopes to have 16 teams in the competition with 12 permanent sides, and so it is expected that four clubs could have the chance to qualify for the European league, perhaps through competitions run by FIBA such as the Basketball Champions League.
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NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum has previously said that the European league will be made up of basketball projects facilitated by European soccer clubs, as well as new and existing teams.
It will be fascinating to see how the NBA’s new league will alter the landscape of basketball on the European continent once the competition does begin.
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