As the NBA continues to pursue its expansion into Europe, the existing legacy league rejected a formal merger offer earlier this week.
Yet, that isn’t halting any plans for NBA Europe to forge ahead.
Membership groups from EuroLeague, which has been operating in the region since 1958, rejected a merger offer from the NBA that would have lumped operations under the proposed NBA Europe umbrella, a person with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed to USA TODAY Sports.
Despite that, talks are expected to continue as the NBA works toward a collaborative approach with EuroLeague.
The person spoke under the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations, which have not been made public.
Yet, despite the failed merger offer, the NBA
will not pause its plan to create the new, 14-to-16-team NBA Europe league across a dozen cities in Europe, some of which do not have permanent EuroLeague teams in place.
NBA plans for Europe: League format
The NBA has maintained that its NBA Europe plan will be a European basketball franchise for European fans, and that its structure would align closely with existing European sports infrastructure.
Ten to 12 of the proposed teams would be permanent, with a merit-based pathway for teams in FIBA-affiliated domestic leagues to have the chance to qualify; the structure is similar to promotions in European soccer leagues, for example.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in September that the NBA would want to start operations for an inaugural season as soon as 2027-28.
NBA Europe hits various issues
The most pressing issue, therefore, now becomes a potential deadline by which the NBA would be forced to move on without EuroLeague.
The person who spoke under the condition of anonymity didn’t want to speculate on a hard out, but when posed with a timeframe of one-to-six months, the person said they would “describe that characterization as accurate.”
Reports out of Europe have been that there’s dissension among the EuroLeague membership groups, with some franchises in favor of the merger and others against. In any case, the measure was put to a vote that did not pass.
One interesting element in all of this is the relationship of EuroLeague Basketball CEO Jesús “Chus” Bueno with executives in the NBA league office; Bueno spent 12 seasons with the NBA as vice president of Europe, Africa and the Middle East and the director of NBA Spain.
Back in April, a person with knowledge of discussions told USA TODAY Sports that the NBA had fielded more than 120 bids from investment groups for non-binding consideration, with some bids surpassing $1 billion.
One issue EuroLeague has had to navigate is that some of its existing benchmark franchises have explored the notion of joining the new NBA Europe league. The rejection of the merger offer isn’t necessarily a surprise, as some EuroLeague membership groups have been at odds with the NBA and FIBA, the NBA’s partner, over the process in forming the new NBA Europe league.
For the benchmark franchises that are interested in joining NBA Europe, there are mechanisms in their membership charters that allow them to exit their contracts with buyout payments.
Front Office Sports was the first to report the news of the merger rejection.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NBA Europe plans continue after EuroLeague rejects merger
