Basketball-EuroLeague CEO says any NBA Europe deal must work for both sides

LONDON, Sept 4 (Reuters) - EuroLeague Basketball is prepared to ⁠compete with NBA Europe if it does not form a partnership with the proposed league, which is backed by the sport's governing FIBA and ⁠the NBA and plans to launch in October 2027, CEO Chus Bueno has said.

The NBA has received many bids within and exceeding ‌the $500 million to $1 billion range in each of its 12 target cities, including from more than 20 existing basketball and football clubs, many of which are current EuroLeague teams.

The Euroleague would like to share its expertise in Europe with the NBA in return for help from the American league but is ready to go it alone unless a deal is mutually beneficial.

"If we don't get ​a deal in Europe, we're going to compete in Europe ... that's the discussion that we had ⁠internally, and if we have to, we're ready," said Bueno, ⁠CEO since February 2026, alluding to Euroleague's signed sponsorship and TV deals.

"It has to be a partnership that works for both of us, not just ⁠for ‌one of us," he told Reuters.

"We know the NBA can help operate things so we should follow the NBA and they should follow the local IP (brand value) of clubs because they've been on the ground for 100 years and they can bring also a lot to the table for the ⁠NBA ...," Bueno added.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in July that the hope was to "create some ​sort of consolidation of European basketball. I remain optimistic ‌that we're going to be able to accomplish that".

PARTNERSHIP BENEFITS

A partnership between EuroLeague and the NBA would offset some major hurdles if a ⁠deal can be agreed.

"If you ​have two leagues ... this is going to create fragmentation of the value, institutionally but also commercially, in media rights, fan attendance,"Bueno said.

Despite the challenges, both organisations are moving forward with their plans with and without each other.

"We both said that if we don't have a deal, we have to keep going with our plans. So, as you know, they keep ⁠going through the process, and I keep going with my plan."

NBA Europe is expected ​to feature 16 teams, with 12 permanent franchises and four annual qualifiers.

The plan, according to deputy commissioner and COO Mark Tatum, includes aFIBA Basketball Champions League and eventually having the Europe league winners enter the NBA Cup, an annual NBA tournament played during the regular season.

Bob Dorfman, a sports marketing analyst, believes NBA Europe would ⁠attract many of Europe's leading players.

"I would not bet against NBA Europe in a competition with the Euroleague, given the NBA's tremendous financial resources, name recognition and star power," he said.

"With so many international stars playing in the NBA in the U.S., it would be expected that the best European players would opt for NBA Europe, where salaries would be higher and the open gameplay more suitable to individual success."

Meanwhile, the EuroLeague aims to expand to 24 teams from 20 for ​the 2027-28 season, when 21 teams will become permanent franchises. The current 13 shareholders' licences will be converted into ⁠franchiseswithout a fee.

The organisation will award up to eight new long-term franchises in cities whereEuroLeague is looking to expand.

"We're talking Paris, London, Milan, Naples, big cities that ​we want to explore how we can have franchises there," Bueno said, adding it currently has "12 binding ‌proposals" with a combined value of a little over 800 million euros in ​fees.

EuroLeague, which was founded in 2000, will commence its regular season starting with 11-times champions Real Madrid facing off againstUAE-based Dubai on September 24.

Olympiacos are the defending champions, having beaten Real in last year's final to win their fourth title.

(Reporting by Streisand Neto; Editing by Ken Ferris)

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伦敦，9 月 4 日（路透社）——欧洲篮球联赛首席执行官楚斯·布埃诺表示，如果 NBA 欧洲联赛未能与这项由国际篮联和 NBA 支持的拟议联赛建立合作关系，欧洲篮球联赛已准备好与 NBA 欧洲联赛展开竞争。该联赛计划于 2027 年 10 月启动。

NBA 在其 12 个目标城市中，每个城市都收到了许多报价，金额在 5 亿美元到 10 亿美元之间，甚至更高。这些报价来自 20 多个现有的篮球和足球俱乐部，其中许多是目前的欧洲篮球联赛球队。

欧洲篮球联赛希望与NBA分享其在欧洲的专业知识，以换取美国联赛的帮助，但除非达成互惠互利的协议，否则它准备独自行动。

“如果我们无法在欧洲达成协议，我们将在欧洲展开竞争……这是我们内部讨论过的，如果需要，我们已经做好了准备，”自 2026 年 2 月起担任首席执行官的布埃诺说道，他指的是欧洲篮球联赛已签署的赞助和电视转播协议。

“这必须是一种对我们双方都有利的合作关系，而不仅仅是对我们其中一方有利的合作关系，”他告诉路透社。

“我们知道NBA可以帮助球队运营，所以我们应该听从NBA的安排，而NBA也应该尊重俱乐部的本土IP（品牌价值），因为这些俱乐部已经扎根100年了，它们也能为NBA带来很多东西……”布埃诺补充道。

NBA总裁亚当·萧华在7月份表示，希望能够“实现欧洲篮球的某种整合。我仍然乐观地认为我们能够实现这一目标。”

合作收益

如果能够达成协议，欧洲篮球联赛和NBA之间的合作将克服一些重大障碍。

“如果有两个联赛……这将造成价值的碎片化，无论是在制度上还是在商业上，例如媒体版权和球迷上座率，”布埃诺说。

尽管面临挑战，但这两个组织都在继续推进各自的计划，无论彼此是否合作。

“我们都说过，如果没能达成协议，我们就必须继续执行各自的计划。所以，你也知道，他们继续推进谈判进程，而我则继续执行我的计划。”

NBA欧洲联赛预计将有16支球队，其中12支为常驻球队，4支为年度资格赛球队。

据副总裁兼首席运营官马克·塔图姆称，该计划包括国际篮联篮球冠军联赛，并最终让欧洲联赛的冠军参加NBA杯，这是NBA常规赛期间举行的年度锦标赛。

体育营销分析师鲍勃·多夫曼认为，NBA欧洲联赛将吸引欧洲许多顶尖球员。

“考虑到NBA雄厚的财力、知名度和球星影响力，我不会在与欧洲篮球联赛的竞争中押注NBA欧洲队输球，”他说。

“鉴于美国NBA有如此多的国际球星，人们会预期欧洲最优秀的球员会选择NBA欧洲联赛，那里的薪水更高，开放的比赛环境也更适合个人取得成功。”

与此同时，欧洲篮球联赛计划在2027-28赛季将参赛队伍从20支扩充至24支，届时21支队伍将成为永久特许经营球队。目前13支球队的股东许可证将免费转换为特许经营权。

该组织将在欧洲篮球联赛希望扩张的城市中授予至多八个新的长期特许经营权。

“我们正在考虑巴黎、伦敦、米兰、那不勒斯等大城市，我们想探索如何在这些城市开设特许经营店，”布埃诺说，并补充道，目前该公司有“12份具有约束力的提案”，总价值略高于8亿欧元。

欧洲篮球联赛成立于 2000 年，其常规赛将于 9 月 24 日拉开帷幕，由 11 次冠军得主皇家马德里队对阵阿联酋的迪拜队。

奥林匹亚科斯是卫冕冠军，他们在去年的决赛中击败皇家马德里，赢得了他们的第四个冠军头衔。

（斯特赖桑德·内托报道；肯·费里斯编辑）

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