FIBA and NBA Target October 2027 Launch for New European Basketball League

An October 2027 launch for a new European club basketball league operated by FIBA and the NBA is a “realistic target,” according to FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis.

Any new professional league would still require the approval of the respective boards of the NBA and the FIBA Central Board. However, Zagklis said that such an announcement could be an ideal way to close the curtain on the Men’s FIBA Basketball World Cup in Qatar in September 2027 and to “move into a new project that shapes the European club basketball landscape in a positive way.”

Plans for the potential incorporation of a new league in Europe were first announced in March. Since then, the Secretary General said that FIBA had had “good” conversations with Euroleague Commercial Assets, which runs Euroleague Basketball, and that for the first time since the 2002–2003 season, there was no overlap between the games of national teams and the Euroleague over two windows.

The new venture could involve both new and existing franchises in major cities across Europe, although Zagklis said that it would have to provide a clear pathway to hundreds of clubs in the continent as well as provide access for teams to compete in it, as part of FIBA’s overall strategy to shape international club competitions.

How The Proposed FIBA / NBA Model Could Work

As well as complying with the European sports model, FIBA and the NBA are currently looking at a model that provides access through the second-tier Basketball Champions League and that runs a qualification tournament. They believe that more teams could qualify for the new top-tier league by welcoming the winners from an end-of-season-qualification tournament and the next best teams from the BCL.

While stressing the need to make the sport “one community,” Zagklis’ main concerns will revolve around creating unity in a fragmented European professional club basketball landscape, as well as what happens in the future to Euroleague.

There are currently five professional basketball competitions in the continent which are branded as Europe-wide — two managed by Euroleague Basketball, two by FIBA Europe, and one patronised by FIBA. These leagues are the Euroleague (the top-tier league in Europe), the Eurocup (Euroleague Basketball’s secondary competition), The Basketball Champions League (FIBA Europe’s highest-level competition), The Europe Cup (FIBA Europe’s secondary competition), and the European North Basketball League (which features teams from across Europe).

Clubs can also qualify for these competitions according to how well they have performed in the previous season in either their national or regional leagues.

To create unity, FIBA would need to ensure that teams in the Euroleague that do not transfer to the NBA / FIBA league would still be able to secure revenue and compete at the highest possible level, while also ensuring that more European teams have access to the new league than those that currently qualify for the Euroleague.

Zagklis added that he had “no doubts” that the new FIBA-NBA venture would happen.