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NBA Europe will not merge with the EuroLeague — the continent’s preeminent basketball competition — at least not on the terms the NBA initially proposed, after EuroLeague shareholders rejected the NBA’s proposal, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport and other reports.
However, those same stakeholders also put planned EuroLeague expansion on hold, something else the NBA requested, opening the door to future negotiations and some kind of working agreement.
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NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has made it clear the league plans to launch NBA Europe a year from now, in the fall of 2027, and doing so has been a priority for NBA owners (who essentially see it as free money). The NBA’s plan calls for 12 permanent teams and four open spots teams could play their way into through domestic leagues and tournaments. The NBA is expecting franchise fees in the $500 million to $1 billion range for each of the 12 permanent members.
The EuroLeague has 13 permanent members at its core, although at least some of them are considering jumping to NBA Europe. Ultimately, some kind of cooperative agreement makes sense for both sides, at least for the next few years.
“We believe that [NBA Europe] would be strengthened by joining forces with the EuroLeague,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said after last month’s Board of Governors meeting. “It doesn’t have to happen, but I think we all would be better off as a unified front in Europe.”
That unified front is not going to happen on the terms the NBA initially proposed, which was unanimously shot down by the EuroLeague stakeholders, according to reports. Joe Varden at The Athletic put it this way.
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One source told The Athletic the rejection was “expected,” while another said there remains “a willingness to negotiate,” but the EuroLeague owners “didn’t like the terms.”
“A few clubs are anti-NBA Europe, but a bulk of the clubs (just) didn’t like the proposal,” one European team executive said. Without a merger with EuroLeague, according to a source from a likely NBA Europe franchise, an October 2027 launch for Silver’s new league would be “impossible.”
The dozen NBA markets the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/euroleague-rejects-nba-europe-initial-172804904.html
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Publish date : 2026-10-06 17:28:00
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