The future of European basketball will be discussed in Cernobbio. As reported by Gazzetta dello Sport, details have emerged regarding the meeting of EuroLeague’s shareholder club owners. The board will be held at Villa d’Este, on Lake Como, with Olimpia Milano acting as host: dinner is scheduled for Monday evening, while the meeting itself will take place on Tuesday morning.
It is a particularly significant appointment, given that the shareholders’ board meets only rarely and, as Gazzetta points out, represents the setting in which the strategies of European basketball are shaped. The 13 shareholder clubs will be called upon to discuss the future of the competition, at a time when two very different scenarios are on the table.
On one side is the expansion project presented by CEO Chus Bueno. The plan is to expand the EuroLeague to 24 teams and eventually 28, with 20-21 clubs becoming franchises. The current shareholder clubs, after renewing their ten-year agreement, would receive permanent licenses, while the remaining spots would be assigned through the purchase of franchises, with prices ranging from €50 million to €90 million. Among the candidates are Virtus Bologna, Napoli, Maxima and BC Roma.
On the other side, however, there is the NBA’s offer to acquire the operational side of the EuroLeague, which according to Gazzetta arrived nearly two weeks ago. The American league has already announced its NBA Europe project, a 16-team competition made up of 12 franchises and four teams qualifying through sporting merit. Italy would have franchises in Milan and Rome.
The potential NBA acquisition is therefore the key issue that the owners will have to evaluate in Cernobbio, weighing it against the independent path already mapped out by the EuroLeague through expansion and the transition to a franchise-based system. It is a decision that could have a major impact on the structure and future of European basketball.
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