Italian basketball remains in turmoil, perhaps like never before in recent years. So many moves, so many ambitions, so many buzzwords: new ownerships, new arenas, new cities, a new Europe. But as of July 5, before even digging deeper into the individual dossiers, one feeling remains: a lot is moving, and a lot is still unclear.
The most singular case is Pallacanestro Trieste. In January 2023, Cotogna Sports Group acquired 90% of the club, with Richard de Meo, Connor Barwin, John Jefferies and Paul Matiasic among the faces of the operation. In March 2024, CSG reached 99%, and in August Matiasic took full control of CSG. On June 25, 2026, the majority stake in CSG passed to Newport Holdings LLC, with Connor Barwin becoming president. On the court, however, the market is still frozen, at least in terms of official announcements.
Even more striking is the Pallacanestro Brescia front. Back in the LBA in 2016 as Leonessa, then renamed Pallacanestro Brescia in 2020 with Mauro Ferrari as reference shareholder, the club stated on May 30, 2026: “Pallacanestro Brescia remains in Brescia.” Less than a month later, Ferrari himself announced in a dramatic press conference the relocation of the club to Rome, inside Paul Matiasic’s Maxima project.
Maxima Roma will be ratified at the next Federal Council meeting. In the meantime, it already has a place in EuroCup and an agreement with Eur SPA to play at PalaEur in 2026-2027. But pay attention to the wording: the arena will host the club’s “main home games.” The club inherits Brescia’s registered players, but right now there are very few certainties: Amedeo Della Valle would like to be released, while Miro Bilan has reportedly already enrolled his children in a school in the capital. The logo? Discovered on the EuroCup website.
Another front: Vanoli Cremona. In Serie A since 2009, and effectively owned by Aldo Vanoli since 2011, the club entered the federal procedure in May 2026 to relocate to Rome, within the BC Roma SPQR project linked to former NBA executive Donnie Nelson, Rimas Kaukenas and also Luka Doncic. Here too, however, the public picture is minimal: the name came from La Gazzetta, the logo from the EuroCup website, and Nico Mannion was effectively announced by Doncic. Official website? Not found.
Then there is the infrastructure issue. PalaTiziano, Rome’s historic 3,500-seat Palazzetto dello Sport built in the late 1950s, is expected to host BC Roma SPQR, some Maxima Roma games, Virtus Roma, Luiss Roma and also Roma Club volleyball. A slightly busy calendar, to put it mildly.
Meanwhile, Pallacanestro Cantù has changed its historic logo and is looking toward its new 5,200-seat arena, where it is expected to debut in February 2027, finally returning to Cantù after more than ten years in Desio. Pallacanestro Reggiana has also changed logo, but said no to Matiasic’s proposal to acquire its sporting title. Apu Udine did the same. Clear signals, in a market for sporting titles that has never been so alive, and never so delicate.
Reyer Venezia is also looking to the future with its new 10,000-plus-seat arena in the Tessera district, with the farewell to Taliercio expected between the end of the season and the start of the next one. Pallacanestro Varese, instead, is moving on a different level: its partnership with RedBird, the fund that owns AC Milan, indirectly connects it to the huge NBA Europe project expected to start in 2027.
The final paradox is European. After years of “dieting,” Italy will have a record presence: Olimpia Milano and Virtus Bologna in EuroLeague; Napoli Basket, Maxima Roma, BC Roma SPQR, Derthona Basket, Aquila Trento and Reyer Venezia in EuroCup; Pallacanestro Varese and Pallacanestro Reggiana in BCL. Ten teams out of sixteen in Europe. Six in EuroCup, an all-time record for a single domestic league.
The movement is running, then. But it is running through a thick fog: ownerships changing hands, sporting titles moving, logos appearing before official websites, promised or overloaded arenas, historic clubs transforming, cities losing teams and cities gaining two in a matter of weeks. Italian basketball is not standing still. But the real question is another one: does it really know where it is going?
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