In the coming hours, a large group of EuroLeague owners will gather at Villa d’Este, in Cernobbio. Dinner on Monday night, then the meeting on Tuesday morning, October 6. And this is not one of the usual meetings between executives. It is an owners’ summit, the kind of meeting that takes place when the road ahead has to be redrawn. For Olimpia Milano, for example, Leo Dell’Orco and Michele Tacchella will attend, two leading figures within the Armani Group before even considering their roles around the basketball club.
The future of European basketball on the table? More precisely, the future of EuroLeague. Because just hours before the meeting, one thing can be said: according to information obtained by Sportando, the most likely scenario today is a European basketball landscape split into two camps — NBA and FIBA on one side, EuroLeague on the other. There is little point in discussing figures, also because confidentiality clauses are involved. Public communication is full of statements of intent, while the one thing that really matters remains protected: the money.
ANSA, in a reconstruction published in recent hours, highlighted two key points: first, the NBA offer has not convinced the European clubs; second, there is skepticism over the NBA’s revenue projections, starting with media rights, with no concrete broadcaster offers currently available for review. As La Gazzetta dello Sport reported, EuroLeague CEO Chus Bueno recently travelled to New York for meetings with the NBA. That clearly suggests the door is not completely closed. And yet, over the past days, weeks and even in conversations with Sportando before the start of the season, the positions have remained largely unchanged.
NBA Europe is moving forward in partnership with FIBA and is targeting a 16-team league, with 12 multi-year licenses. EuroLeague, meanwhile, is counting on a united front that wants to expand to 24 teams first and potentially 28 later. In other words, two completely different models. It is no coincidence that Eurohoops, a media outlet close to EuroLeague, has stressed one detail: there will be no NBA or FIBA representatives in Cernobbio on Tuesday. The topic that Adam Silver has repeatedly pushed would not even be at the center of the official agenda.
In fact, sources close to the EuroLeague indicate that the main item on the meeting’s agenda is the EuroLeague’s 10-year strategic plan—specifically, the conversion of long-term licenses into franchises and the potential addition of eight new ones—not a potential evaluation of the NBA’s proposal. It’s as if to say: under these circumstances, we’re not on board. And by October 2026, we’ll be well past those circumstances.
There are also major clubs gathering in Cernobbio that do not currently fit into the NBA Europe project as publicly described. Athens? Yes, but one team. The same goes for Istanbul. Belgrade and Kaunas? Never seriously mentioned, while London, Berlin, Rome and Paris have been repeatedly discussed. And in Paris, the name most often connected to the project is PSG, not Paris Basketball. In Milan, there is no agreement involving Olimpia and RedBird; the club tied to that scenario is Varese.
So what does the NBA really have today? Real Madrid, Barcelona or Bayern? No official commitment has been announced. The EuroLeague front is still moving together and, according to information obtained by Sportando, there is a concern inside the group that NBA Europe could ultimately seek to acquire the competition and then gain freedom to reshape the league and negotiate with individual clubs on its own terms.
That is why, as of today, the split looks like the most worrying — and also one of the most realistic — outcomes. EuroLeague could move quickly with expansion and new licenses, while NBA Europe could begin announcing new franchises from October, especially in Germany, France and the United Kingdom. A break of this magnitude would open a confusing and potentially damaging phase for European basketball. Unless an offer arrives that is simply impossible to reject. Given the current premises, what kind of offer could that be? Keep an eye on Spain and Germany.
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