EuroLeague ownership groups formally rejected the NBA’s merger proposal this week, but the NBA says that decision will not stop its plan to launch a new European league, with or without EuroLeague’s cooperation. The league, working alongside FIBA, intends to push forward with NBA Europe as talks with EuroLeague continue on what both sides now describe as a collaborative basis rather than a combined entity.
The rejection came after EuroLeague owners met in Cernobbio, Italy, on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, where a supermajority voted down the NBA‘s offer, according to Front Office Sports. Barcelona, Fenerbahçe and Olympiacos were among the clubs that voted against it. Despite that outcome, the NBA confirmed it will proceed with its NBA Europe plans and that discussions with EuroLeague are expected to continue, according to Yahoo Sports.
The Details Of The Rejected Offer
EuroLeague has operated in Europe since 1958, and the proposal it turned down would have folded that history into a new structure built around the NBA’s brand. Part of the disagreement centered on money. EuroLeague valued itself at $3 billion in any deal, but the NBA’s offer valued the league at far less than that figure, sources told Front Office Sports. Sources said the economics simply did not add up for EuroLeague’s ownership groups.
The NBA’s proposal also asked EuroLeague to pause its planned expansion, a condition EuroLeague rejected outright. EuroLeague currently fields 20 total teams, 13 permanent shareholders and seven others that qualify through routes such as winning the EuroCup or receiving short-term licenses. The league intends to grow to as many as 24 teams by the 2027-28 season, and a final recommendation on that expansion and a conversion of shareholder licenses into permanent franchises is expected in the coming weeks.
One person familiar with the ownership meeting described the reaction to Front Office Sports. “It didn’t sit well with the EuroLeague owners who have invested time and money into their league. They’ve built real brands, real franchises.
They just felt like it was very much a power play.” EuroLeague owners reportedly used the word “colonialist” to describe the NBA’s offer, according to Front Office Sports.
Not every EuroLeague stakeholder is opposed. There is dissension within the membership, with some franchises favoring a merger and others firmly against one. A significant number of the 13 permanent EuroLeague clubs have expressed interest in joining NBA Europe instead, according to ESPN, and existing benchmark franchises can exit their EuroLeague contracts through buyout payments written into their membership charters.
What It Means For Fans And European Basketball
For fans across Europe, the practical shape of the league is starting to come into focus even without a EuroLeague merger. The NBA’s proposed NBA Europe league would include 14 to 16 teams across a dozen cities, according to Yahoo Sports, while ESPN reported the league would field 16 teams. Between 10 and 12 spots would be permanent, with the rest determined through merit-based qualification from FIBA-affiliated domestic leagues, a structure the NBA says mirrors promotion systems used in European soccer.
The format would also let clubs keep playing in their national leagues on preferred weekend dates while competing in NBA Europe during the week, with expanded rosters meant to provide depth across multiple competitions and a stated focus on developing European players, according to ESPN.
Interest from investors has been substantial. The NBA had fielded more than 120 non-binding bids from investment groups by April 2026, some topping $1 billion, according to Yahoo Sports. More recent bids for spots in the planned league have ranged between $500 million and $1 billion, Front Office Sports reported.
Context: A Previous European Basketball Split
European basketball has lived through a breakaway before. In 2000-01, a league called ULEB split from the established FIBA-run competition, producing a divided season that proved both uncomfortable and unprofitable for everyone involved. The two sides combined the following year to form the modern EuroLeague, a merger that has held for roughly two and a half decades.
Jesús “Chus” Bueno, now CEO of EuroLeague Basketball, has a unique vantage point on the current standoff. He spent 12 seasons inside the NBA as vice president of Europe, Africa and the Middle East and as director of NBA Spain before taking his current role, giving him direct experience with both sides of the negotiating table.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in September 2026 that the league would like to start NBA Europe’s inaugural season as early as 2027-28, a target that creates a practical deadline for any further merger talks. Sources told Front Office Sports that a hard deadline for those talks would likely fall within six months, given that timeline. Silver had already tempered expectations back in January 2026, acknowledging the venture could take years to become a commercially viable enterprise.
NBA owners were briefed on the project’s progress during last month’s Board of Governors meeting in New York and remain supportive, viewing NBA Europe as a long-term investment rather than a quick payoff. One person involved in the planning summed up that mindset to ESPN: “This is a 20-year project. And that’s how we’re approaching it.” Asked about where talks with EuroLeague currently stand, the same characterization offered was simply “making progress.”
What’s Next
Sources told Front Office Sports that the rejection does not signal the end of talks between the NBA and EuroLeague but rather the start of formal negotiations over a collaborative arrangement short of a full merger. EuroLeague is expected to issue a final recommendation on its own expansion to 24 teams and the conversion of its 13 shareholder licenses into permanent franchises in the coming weeks, a decision that will shape how many clubs remain available to join NBA Europe. With Silver’s 2027-28 target still in place, the next several months are expected to determine whether the two leagues find common ground or build separate competitions in parallel.
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