{"id":437035,"date":"2025-04-08T08:04:17","date_gmt":"2025-04-08T06:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/?p=437035"},"modified":"2025-04-08T08:04:17","modified_gmt":"2025-04-08T06:04:17","slug":"euroleague-divided-as-nba-europe-looms-only-7-of-13-clubs-offer-full-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/euroleague-divided-as-nba-europe-looms-only-7-of-13-clubs-offer-full-support\/","title":{"rendered":"EuroLeague Divided as NBA Europe Looms: Only 7 of 13 Clubs Offer Full Support"},"content":{"rendered":"

A critical shareholders board meeting of EuroLeague Basketball<\/strong> concluded late Monday night in Barcelona<\/strong>, after nearly ten hours of debate centered around the growing influence of the NBA Europe project<\/strong>. The session, which began at 3:00 p.m., featured a remote presentation by FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis<\/strong> and FIBA Europe President Jorge Garbajosa<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Despite international media reports suggesting unity, the reality is far more complex. Out of 13 shareholders<\/strong>, only seven have formally reaffirmed their commitment<\/strong> to EuroLeague after the meeting, exposing deep divisions within the league in the face of NBA’s European ambitions.<\/p>\n

Fenerbah\u00e7e<\/strong> and Panathinaikos<\/strong> were among the few to fully back EuroLeague\u2019s current model. Panathinaikos’ stance is particularly notable, given the Greek club’s long-standing criticism of EuroLeague governance, once likening it to a “mafia-like” structure.<\/p>\n

Conversely, Real Madrid<\/strong> and FC Barcelona<\/strong> have withheld any firm commitment. Their current 10-year licenses expire in 2026, and both clubs\u2014according to earlier reports by Sportando<\/em> and ROM<\/em>\u2014are believed to be primary targets for the NBA\u2019s European expansion. Barcelona could follow Madrid\u2019s lead if the shift toward NBA Europe materializes.<\/p>\n

As BasketNews<\/em> reports, Olimpia Milano<\/strong> and ASVEL Villeurbanne<\/strong> have also requested more time to complete internal evaluations before declaring their future intentions. Notably, ASVEL, owned by Tony Parker, has confirmed ongoing dialogue with NBA Europe, although it has restated a current preference to remain in the EuroLeague.<\/p>\n

The meeting also addressed a potential expansion to 20 teams<\/strong> (from the current 18) and the introduction of new three-year licenses<\/strong>. A key point of negotiation remains the proposed investment from BC Partners<\/strong>, a UK-based private equity firm. While the fund presented its strategic vision to shareholders, it made clear it would only proceed if at least 11 clubs commit formally<\/strong> to the league\u2019s long-term structure. The exact percentage of league equity under negotiation remains confidential.<\/p>\n

In this volatile period for European basketball, EuroLeague seeks a united response to what is either a threat or an opportunity\u2014NBA Europe<\/strong>. But for now, that unity simply isn\u2019t there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Barcelona meeting reveals fractures in EuroLeague front as NBA\u2019s expansion plans gain ground. Big names like Real and Bar\u00e7a still undecided<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":437034,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_spbk_hide_featured":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[82,92],"tags":[],"rumors":[],"typology":[],"posizionamento":[],"class_list":["post-437035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-euroleague","category-nba"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/04\/EuroLeague-NBA.png","digistream_id":0,"digistream":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=437035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/437034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=437035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=437035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=437035"},{"taxonomy":"rumors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rumors?post=437035"},{"taxonomy":"typology","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/typology?post=437035"},{"taxonomy":"posizionamento","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posizionamento?post=437035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}