Barcelona has verbally committed to continuing in the Euroleague. This was confirmed this morning by the Barça club in the telematic meeting held by the competition’s partner clubs and in which the future was discussed before the NBA arrives on the continent in October 2027. The moment is crucial for European basketball due to the open war between the two giants. In the absence of an agreement to go hand in hand not even with the mediation of FIBA, which is on the side of the American colossus, each team has to choose a side: either with the NBA or with the Euroleague. And the positions are being defined.
The Euroleague has 13 owners with a fixed and insured license. Nine of them have renewed the contract that ends this summer for 10 more years, until 2036, the same link that unites the tournament with the sponsorship of IMG. They are Panathinaikos, Olympiacos, Maccabi, Zalgiris, Baskonia, Efes, Olimpia Milano, Bayern and CSKA, although the Russian team has its place frozen due to sanctions derived from the conflict in Ukraine. The remaining four, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Fenerbahçe and Asvel, had until this Thursday, January 15, to renew under the same conditions as the rest or, otherwise, move towards individual negotiations until the legal end of the contract, on June 30 of this year.
Among the quartet of stragglers, Barcelona has finally said ‘yes, I want’ to the Euroleague and apparently closes in this way the door to signing for the European NBA, a competition that intends to start with 12 permanent teams and four more that will access through the national Leagues and the Basketball Champions League organized by FIBA. The Barça entity has taken the same path as the majority of its partners and will continue along the classic path. Of the other undecided, Fenerbahçe, the current champion, is also heading towards the renewal of votes, but the club is going through turbulent times due to the arrest of its president, Sadettin Saran, in an anti-drug operation. Asvel Villeurbanne, chaired by Tony Parker, has taken the exit ramp towards next season’s Champions League, launching towards the NBA. His probable goodbye is not seen as a great loss for the Euroleague, which looks more favorably on the options of Paris Basketball and Monaco in the French market.
And the big doubt, and also the key piece, is Real Madrid. The white club is studying the NBA project and can extend its final decision until next summer. If he does not renew with the Euroleague, he would have to wait a year until the arrival of the new competition in 2027, and for now the only scenario that is presented to him would be to compete in the FIBA Champions League. Unicaja, La Laguna Tenerife, Joventut and Gran Canaria are currently competing in this tournament, which will hold its Final Four from May 7 to 9 in Badalona. The Madrid team is now a vitally important piece in the chess game.
The NBA announced that starting this month the round of contacts with investors and teams interested in getting on board would begin. The Euroleague has threatened legal action if among those calls there are any to its partners. Barcelona and Fenerbahçe have already received a phone call from the American giant urging them not to renew their contracts. The swords remain high while there is no agreement to join forces for a great competition. The positions are still far apart and the future draws two tournaments that will compete with each other to attract the best teams. “If the NBA and the Euroleague cannot go hand in hand, let’s compete,” said Jorge Garbajosa, president of FIBA Europe, in a recent interview in EL PAÍS. In this dilemma, Barcelona has already decided. Madrid thinks about it.
