The NBA and FIBA announced on Monday that they will soon begin speaking with team owners about joining their planned new European league.
Many details about the NBA's plans for a European league have yet to be finalized, including a start date — they reportedly aim to start in October 2027 — and the exact competition model. The organizations have reportedly explored the concept of a 16-team league, with 12 permanent spots and four other seeds available through a qualifying competition.
The European league will offer a "merit-based pathway" to qualifying every season through FIBA's premier competition, the Basketball Champions League. There is also the potential of an end-of-season qualifying tournament, the sides said. Every club in FIBA's European leagues would be eligible to qualify.
"The format of the league respects European sport model principles by offering any ambitious club in the continent a fair pathway to the top," FIBA secretary general Andreas Zagklis said on Monday.
European basketball leagues follow a different format to the NBA's, similar to how soccer leagues are organized. Teams play in domestic leagues against clubs from the same country, with most leagues having promotion and relegation. Each league consists of anywhere between 12 and 18 teams, with the top seeds earning qualification to continental tournaments like the EuroLeague, EuroCup, Basketball Champions League and FIBA Europe Cup.
Some of the top European teams have long-term licenses in the EuroLeague, meaning they automatically qualify for the tournament regardless of their domestic league position.
The NBA has made efforts to break into the European market for years, notably intensifying during the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Silver and Zagklis held a joint press conference to announce the endeavor earlier this year, and have brought in major consulting firms — including JPMorgan — to help conceptualize the project.
"Our conversations with various stakeholders in Europe have reinforced our belief that an enormous opportunity exists around the creation of a new league on the continent," Silver said.
The NBA's European league is targeting cities around the continent, including London, Paris, Madrid, Rome, Munich, Athens and Istanbul.
The league has grown in influence across the pond over the last decade, with a number of European superstars like Nikola Jokić (Serbia), Luka Dončić (Slovenia), Victor Wembanyama (France) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece) currently dominating the Association. About 1 in 6 players currently in the NBA hail from Europe. France leads the way with the most players in the NBA with 19.
The Memphis Grizzlies and Orlando Magic are set to play games in Berlin and London in January as the NBA continues to test the waters for basketball interest in Europe.
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