Basketball-Euroleague shareholders reject NBA Europe offer, door open for future talks

FILE PHOTO: Basketball - Euroleague Final - Real Madrid v Anadolu Efes - Stark Arena, Belgrade, Serbia - May 21, 2022 General view of the match REUTERS/Marko Djurica/File Photo

CERNOBBIO, Italy, Oct 6 (Reuters) - TheNBA’s attempt to ⁠reshape European basketball hit a roadblock on Tuesday as Euroleague shareholder clubs rejected a collaboration offer, raising the prospect of a ⁠battle for the continent’s biggest teams, players and commercial riches.

The door on a deal has yet to be closed though.

The ‌shareholder clubs also did not reach a formal decision on expanding the competition from 20 to 24 teams as part of an approved plan, but the Euroleague did confirm the decision to convert the 13 shareholder clubs into franchises in a statement.

Representatives of the13 permanent shareholder clubs met near Lake Como to discuss the expansion plan, with the prospect of ​an agreement with the NBA dominating discussions around the future of European basketball.

A senior sports ⁠executive told Reuters any collaboration between Euroleague and the ⁠NBA was unlikely before 2028 because of the difficulty of organising a new competition in time for the 2027-28 season.

The Euroleague did not mention ⁠the ‌widely reported NBA offer in its statement, but told Reuters last Friday it remained open to collaboration. Although the clubs rejected the current proposal, talks with the NBA could continue.

The NBA did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The rejection is a significant setback ⁠to attempts to unite Europe’s established elite basketball competition with the financial and commercial ​power of the NBA, which plans to launch ‌a 16-team NBA Europe league in 2027.

The NBA has stepped up its push into Europe amid a surge of ⁠interest in the sport, ​with Euroleague reporting in May an 82% increase in TV viewership through the first 25 regular-season rounds of the 2025-26 campaign.

The NBA has also enjoyed growing momentum on the continent. Streaming deals with providers like Amazon Prime have boosted audiences for the NBA in Europe, while regular-season games in Berlin and London this year highlighted the ⁠league's growing appeal.

Viewership of January's clash between Orlando Magic and Memphis Grizzlies in ​London was up 90% compared to the last NBA game there in 2019.

A report from JB Capital commissioned by the Euroleague values the competition at €1.41 billion ($1,59 billion), while the aggregate value of its licensed teams was put at approximately €1.8 billion ($2,03 billion).

Those figures pale in comparison to the NBA.

The NBA recently surpassed ⁠Major League Baseball to become the world's second-richest sports league, according to Sports Value, a marketing and valuation agency, with upwards of $14 billion in revenue during the 2025-26 season.

The NBA and Euroleague have said throughout this year that they would like to work together on a new competition, but each has also made clear it is prepared to pursue its own plans if no agreement is reached.

No deadline has been set for a deal, although ​the sides have indicated they want greater clarity by the end of the season.

Regarding Euroleague's expansion plan, ⁠a person attending the meeting told Reuters the decision on allocating additional long-term licences would be taken within the next month.

The source said the Euroleague ​was keen to move ahead with expansion and attention will now be on whether the NBA ‌submits a fresh proposal before those calls are made.

Up to eight additional ​long-term licences could be awarded. The remaining places would be filled through a combination of short-term licences, wildcards and sporting qualification through the BKT EuroCup.

(Additional reporting by Amy Tennery and Ruairidh Barlow, editing by Ed Osmond, Ken Ferris and Toby Davis)

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资料照片：篮球 - 欧洲篮球联赛决赛 - 皇家马德里对阵安纳托利亚艾菲斯 - 塞尔维亚贝尔格莱德斯塔克体育馆 - 2022年5月21日 比赛全景 路透社/Marko Djurica/资料照片

意大利切尔诺比奥，10 月 6 日（路透社）——周二，NBA 试图重塑欧洲篮球的努力遭遇阻碍，欧洲篮球联赛的股东俱乐部拒绝了一项合作提议，这引发了一场争夺欧洲大陆最大球队、球员和商业财富的战争。

不过，达成交易的大门尚未完全关闭。

股东俱乐部也没有就将比赛队伍从 20 支增加到 24 支（作为已批准计划的一部分）达成正式决定，但欧洲篮球联赛在一份声明中确认了将 13 家股东俱乐部转变为特许经营权的决定。

13 家永久股东俱乐部的代表在科莫湖附近会面，讨论扩军计划，与 NBA 达成协议的前景主导了关于欧洲篮球未来的讨论。

一位资深体育主管告诉路透社，由于很难在 2027-28 赛季之前组织一项新的比赛，因此欧洲篮球联赛和 NBA 在 2028 年之前不太可能进行任何合作。

欧洲篮球联赛在声明中并未提及此前广为报道的NBA报价，但上周五告诉路透社，他们仍然对合作持开放态度。尽管各俱乐部拒绝了目前的提议，但与NBA的谈判仍有可能继续。

NBA尚未立即回应路透社的置评请求。

这一拒绝对于将欧洲成熟的精英篮球赛事与 NBA 的财力和商业实力相结合的尝试来说，是一个重大的挫折。NBA 计划在 2027 年推出一个由 16 支球队组成的 NBA 欧洲联赛。

随着人们对篮球运动的兴趣激增，NBA 加大了进军欧洲的力度。欧洲篮球联赛在 5 月份报告称，在 2025-26 赛季的前 25 轮常规赛中，电视收视率增长了 82%。

NBA在欧洲大陆的发展势头也日益强劲。与亚马逊Prime等流媒体服务商达成的协议提升了NBA在欧洲的观众人数，而今年在柏林和伦敦举行的常规赛也凸显了NBA日益增长的吸引力。

1 月份奥兰多魔术队与孟菲斯灰熊队在伦敦的比赛收视率比 2019 年在伦敦举行的上一场 NBA 比赛增长了 90%。

欧洲篮球联赛委托 JB Capital 撰写的一份报告显示，该赛事的估值为 14.1 亿欧元（15.9 亿美元），而其授权球队的总价值约为 18 亿欧元（20.3 亿美元）。

与NBA相比，这些数字简直微不足道。

据市场营销和估值机构 Sports Value 称，NBA 最近超越美国职业棒球大联盟，成为世界第二富有的体育联盟，预计在 2025-26 赛季的收入将超过 140 亿美元。

今年以来，NBA 和欧洲篮球联赛都曾表示希望合作举办一项新的赛事，但双方也都明确表示，如果未能达成协议，他们将各自推进自己的计划。

虽然双方都表示希望在赛季结束前获得更明确的答复，但尚未设定达成协议的最后期限。

关于欧洲篮球联赛的扩张计划，一位参加会议的人士告诉路透社，将在下个月内决定是否分配额外的长期许可证。

消息人士称，欧洲篮球联赛渴望推进扩军计划，现在的焦点将放在NBA是否会在做出最终决定之前提交新的提案上。

最多可额外颁发八个长期许可证。剩余名额将通过短期许可证、外卡以及通过BKT欧洲杯获得的体育资格赛等方式分配。

（Amy Tennery 和 Ruairidh Barlow 亦有贡献，Ed Osmond、Ken Ferris 和 Toby Davis 编辑）

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