LONDON (AP) — European basketball is often a passionate chaos of fan fervor, intense rivalries and financial problems.
The Euroleague holds together some powerful fiefdoms. And she’s not thrilled with the NBA’s plans to create a new competition on the continent.
She’s not worried either.
“We’ve heard the plan or the fireworks of how incredible it will be, the great potential it has,” EuroLeague CEO Paulius Motiejunas said of the NBA’s proposed league. “But having a theory is one thing, making it work is another.”
“We have been here for 26 years. We know how Europe works,” he stressed.
With clubs like Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, the Euroleague is considered the best men’s professional competition outside of the NBA. The 20-team league is made up of 13 “shareholder” clubs immune from relegation. The rest qualify through their national leagues or by invitation.
The NBA, in partnership with FIBA, is considering a 16-team model with 12 permanent members, with a planned start in October 2027. It has identified Athens, Istanbul, Paris, Lyon, Munich, Berlin, Rome, Milan, Madrid, Barcelona, London and Manchester as possible host cities.
Currently, the focus is on three EuroLeague shareholder clubs that have not renewed their 10-year licenses: Real Madrid, Fenerbahce in Istanbul and Tony Parker-owned ASVEL near Lyon. Parker has signaled his support for the NBA, and Spanish sports newspaper Diario AS reported that Real Madrid favors the NBA project.
The reluctant Barcelona have indicated they will extend for another 10 years beyond this season.
“It’s a big deal, of course. It’s an important brand, and we’re happy they’ve committed,” Motiejunas said of Barcelona, who have not commented publicly.
Motiejunas, in an interview with The Associated Press, said he is confident the 13 clubs will stay.
“The NBA has been announcing and announcing things for a year, but there’s nothing tangible yet,” Motiejunas said. “As businessmen, these are team owners, they’re also starting to see that it’s a bit of a ‘we’ll announce later’ broken record, … The start of ’27 is already around the corner.”
It has been reported that EuroLeague clubs have an exit clause of 10 million euros ($11.6 million), but Motiejunas simply said that breaking a contract will carry “legal consequences.”
There is no exit option for the NBA, he added.
The EuroLeague claims to be open to some type of relationship with the NBA, whose executives have expressed similar sentiments. But in the meantime, the Euroleague sent a letter to the NBA warning of legal action if talks with its shareholders continue.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver dismissed the threat Thursday in Berlin before the Orlando Magic’s 118-111 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA’s regular-season opener in Germany.
He also dismissed the EuroLeague more generally.
“If I thought that the ceiling was the existing EuroLeague and the interest of its fans, we would not be devoting the type of time and attention that we are to this project,” Silver said.
Media reports indicate that the NBA wants a model in which each franchise would have a permanent spot with a minimum cost of $500 million. Silver noted that any investor will have to be patient because “it’s going to take a while, I think, before it’s a viable commercial venture.” He added that it will be “a process of several decades.”
Silver warned that “potentially” starting a new league is a “massive task” and described talks with Real Madrid and other Spanish clubs as “more at the information gathering stage.”
The panorama of European basketball is similar to that of football. The Euroleague is like the UEFA Champions League in quality, although entry is more restrictive. Basketball also has several other international leagues, but they are less well-known than their soccer counterparts, leaving fans confused. FIBA, for example, has its own Champions League.
Silver sees potential because basketball is the second most popular sport in Europe after soccer.
“Rather than thinking of us as taking share away from (football), I look at the commercial side of basketball as it exists now in Europe, and it probably represents about one percent of the commercial sports market,” he said.
Many European basketball teams, including some in the EuroLeague, have had financial difficulties. The system has often relied on wealthy owners to cover the team’s debts each year. The EuroLeague has implemented spending restrictions to promote financial sustainability.
In a revenue boost, the EuroLeague last season moved its “Final Four” outside of Europe, to Abu Dhabi, for the first time. It also carried some of the chaos from European basketball, as Panathinaikos majority owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos received a five-game suspension for his “threatening actions” against referees.
The EuroLeague also granted a multi-year license to a newly created team in Dubai and recently extended its partnership with global sports marketing agency IMG.
“We focus on ourselves,” Motiejunas said. “We will be able to adapt, there is no doubt about it, and we will continue to fight.”
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