EuroLeague enters a new phase: framework for 20 clubs in the 2026/27 season confirmed and a major step forward for the EuroCup
European club basketball has received an important organizational framework for the 2026/27 season after the meeting of the Board of Directors of Euroleague Commercial Assets held on June 26, 2026, in Barcelona. According to the Euroleague Basketball announcement, the ECA approved a series of competitive, commercial and strategic decisions that will be submitted to the ECA General Assembly for ratification on July 7, 2026. The most important decision concerns the continuation of the 20-club model in the EuroLeague, with confirmation that Paris Basketball and Beşiktaş Istanbul will receive one-year invitations for the 2026/27 season. This maintains the expanded format introduced in the previous cycle, while at the same time opening room for a deeper reorganization from the 2027/28 season.
The decisions from Barcelona come at a time when the European professional basketball market is under strong pressure from new projects, above all the NBA and FIBA initiative for a possible pan-European league. According to official NBA and FIBA announcements, that idea is still in the phase of exploration and talks with potential clubs, ownership groups and basketball organizations. Euroleague Basketball, FIBA and the NBA stated in a joint announcement after the meeting in Mies that talks on the future of European basketball are continuing, but for now there is no officially confirmed final model or start date for a possible new competition. In such an environment, the ECA is trying to strengthen its own structure, increase the number of stable projects and offer clubs a clearer long-term business framework.
The EuroLeague remains at 20 teams, but the plan for 24 clubs remains open
According to the Euroleague Basketball announcement, the ECA Board of Directors confirmed that the EuroLeague will again have 20 participants in the 2026/27 season. Paris Basketball remains in the competition through a one-year invitation, while Beşiktaş Istanbul enters the top tier also through a one-year wild card. On the other hand, AS Monaco appears on the official list of BKT EuroCup participants for the 2026/27 season, which marks one of the most visible changes compared with the previous season. Such an arrangement of clubs shows that the ECA, at least for next season, is giving priority to a controlled transition instead of a sudden increase in the number of participants.
The competition model remains recognizable: 20 clubs means a double round-robin league system with home and away games against every opponent, that is, a regular season with 38 rounds. According to earlier explanations from Euroleague Basketball, that format increases the number of games compared with the older 18-team model, but preserves the basic principle that all clubs meet each other twice. According to the official announcement, the Board of Directors at the same time again confirmed the intention to expand the EuroLeague to 24 clubs from the 2027/28 season and to continue assessing the format that could fit such an increase into the broader European calendar. This issue is not only sporting, but also logistical, because clubs are already warning about the burden of schedules, travel and coordination with domestic leagues and national-team windows.
The decision on Real Madrid is especially important. According to the ECA announcement, the Board of Directors approved the extension of the Madrid club’s ten-year licence after the completion of the procedure on June 22, 2026. The Spanish newspaper El País had earlier reported that Real Madrid was the last of the key shareholder clubs that needed to confirm its long-term commitment to the project, at a time when the EuroLeague is moving toward a model more similar to a franchise system. For the EuroLeague, this is strategically important because retaining the best-known clubs increases its negotiating strength in talks with media partners, sponsors and potential investors. For the other participants, it is a signal that the current model is not collapsing under the pressure of competing ideas, but is instead trying to upgrade itself.
The EuroCup expands to 32 clubs and gains a more stable system
The second major part of the decisions concerns the BKT EuroCup, which will receive a significantly broader format in the 2026/27 season. According to the official Euroleague Basketball list, the competition is expanding to 32 clubs divided into four groups of eight teams. Sixteen clubs will advance to the playoffs, and the round of 16, quarter-final, semi-final and final stages will be played in best-of-three series. This makes the EuroCup a competition with a larger number of markets, greater sporting depth and a clearer playoff framework than before.
Euroleague Basketball states that the expansion of the EuroCup is a response to strong interest from clubs across Europe, with it having previously been announced that more than 40 expressions of interest in participation had been received. The official list for the 2026/27 season includes representatives of 16 countries and territories. According to the Euroleague Basketball announcement, Italy is the most represented with five clubs, while Germany and Turkey have four representatives each. A total of 22 clubs receive long-term five-year licences, part of the places are filled through one-year participation, and one place at the time of the announcement was reserved for a final wildcard decision.
Among the clubs with five-year licences are, among others, AS Monaco, Beşiktaş Gain Istanbul, Cosea JL Bourg-en-Bresse, Hapoel Midtown Jerusalem, La Laguna Tenerife, London Lions, ratiopharm Ulm, Turk Telekom Ankara, U-BT Cluj-Napoca and Umana Reyer Venice. Among the clubs with one-year participation are Basketball Club Roma, Kids&Us Manresa, Napoli Basketball, Slask Wroclaw, Tofas Bursa and others. According to Euroleague Basketball, the final list must undergo formal approval by the next ECA board and then ratification by the General Assembly. If a club meanwhile receives an invitation to the EuroLeague and frees up a place in the EuroCup, the vacant position should be filled from among the clubs that submitted the required documentation.
The expansion of the EuroCup has a broader meaning than the mere change of schedule. In its announcement, Euroleague Basketball emphasizes that the expanded competition should encourage stability, investment and longer-term planning among clubs. This is directly connected with the future expansion of the EuroLeague, because the EuroCup remains a space in which ambitious clubs can build their sporting and business profile before moving to the highest level. In practice, the EuroCup in the new model could become an even more important development and selection platform, especially for markets that want to enter the main European league but do not yet have a guaranteed place in it.
The franchise model and the economic logic of the new phase
According to the ECA announcement, Euroleague Basketball CEO Chus Bueno informed the Board of Directors about the process of converting existing long-term club licences into franchises, and that process should be completed during the 2026/27 season. The formal process of exploring the awarding of future franchises should begin on July 1, 2026. Euroleague Basketball states that significant interest has already been received from existing clubs, basketball organizations and investors from new markets. This confirms that the debate on the future of the EuroLeague is increasingly shifting from the issue of the calendar itself to the issue of ownership structure, market value and long-term commercial rights.
The franchise model could give clubs greater security in planning budgets, infrastructure, sponsorships and media contracts. At the same time, it opens sensitive questions of sporting access, because the European sporting tradition rests on a combination of domestic leagues, standings, results and international qualification paths. The EuroLeague is therefore trying to maintain a balance: it is announcing a more stable system for existing and future pillars of the project, while at the same time expanding the EuroCup and leaving room for new entries through invitations and possible future formats. Precisely that balance will be crucial if the EuroLeague with 24 clubs is indeed introduced from 2027/28.
The financial dimension of the decisions is also important. According to the official Euroleague Basketball announcement, management reported revenue growth of more than 12 percent compared with the 2024/25 season and announced at least a 10-percent increase in economic distributions to clubs for the 2026/27 season. The Board of Directors also accepted proposed changes to competition rules, including the removal of the High Remuneration Level from the Competitive Balance Standards system before the planned full implementation in the 2027/28 season, additional improvements to player conditions under the agreement with the EuroLeague Players’ Association, and an increase in disciplinary thresholds. All these measures point to an attempt to create a more sustainable system in which revenue growth will not be separated from cost control and relations with players.
The SuperCup and the calendar as an additional commercial tool
In Barcelona, the ECA also approved the launch of the SuperCup, a new competition in the Euroleague Basketball portfolio. According to the official announcement, the first edition is expected on September 18 and 19, 2026, while the format and list of participants will be announced later. Although the details have not been confirmed, the SuperCup fits into a broader strategy of creating additional events that can increase the visibility of the competition before the start of the main season. Such tournaments have sporting value, but they are even more important as a media product, especially at a time when global leagues are trying to expand audiences beyond traditional markets.
According to the calendar approved by the Board of Directors, the EuroLeague should begin its 2026/27 season on September 24, 2026, and the BKT EuroCup on September 29, 2026. The early start further confirms how much the calendar has become one of the most sensitive issues in European basketball. Clubs that play in the EuroLeague or EuroCup most often also compete in domestic championships in parallel, and many players have obligations to national teams. For that reason, every change in the number of clubs, the number of rounds or playoff series directly affects the workload of teams, travel costs, television slots and the sporting rhythm of the entire season.
That is precisely why the decision to keep the EuroLeague at 20 clubs in 2026/27 is pragmatic, and not necessarily final. It gives the ECA another season for negotiations, testing the economic model and preparing for a possible jump to 24 participants. The EuroCup, on the other hand, is already taking on the role of a broader platform with 32 clubs, by which Euroleague Basketball increases the total number of clubs in its two senior competitions to 52. According to the official announcement, that number should demonstrate the breadth and quality of European club basketball, but also the organization’s capacity to bring clubs together in a period of increased competition.
A response to NBA Europe without open conflict
The most important context of the decisions from Barcelona remains the EuroLeague’s relationship with the NBA and FIBA. The NBA and FIBA have confirmed in official announcements that they are exploring the creation of a new professional men’s league in Europe, with the intention of including potential clubs and ownership groups. In December 2025, FIBA announced that the new project, in addition to permanent places, could also include an annual qualification path for clubs from leagues connected with FIBA, either through the Basketball Champions League or a final qualifying tournament. But according to joint announcements by FIBA, the NBA and Euroleague Basketball from April and June 2026, talks are continuing and for now no final agreement has been announced that would define a joint competition or a completely separate project.
The EuroLeague therefore is not responding only with sporting decisions, but also with institutional positioning. Retaining Real Madrid, strengthening the franchise model, increasing economic distributions, expanding the EuroCup and planning a move to 24 clubs from 2027/28 are all part of the same message: the existing European club structure wants to modernize before a possible NBA Europe project receives its final shape. At the same time, the ECA is so far avoiding the rhetoric of open conflict and, according to official announcements, continues talks with the NBA and FIBA about possibilities for cooperation. Such an approach leaves room both for an agreement and for the independent strengthening of the EuroLeague model if a joint solution is not reached.
For clubs, the decisions from Barcelona bring more predictability, but they do not remove all open questions. The 2026/27 season should show whether a 20-club EuroLeague can remain a sufficiently attractive and sustainable model while expansion to 24 participants is being prepared. The EuroCup will test its new breadth with 32 clubs, a larger number of countries and a longer playoff. Investors and potential new market projects will follow how the process of awarding future franchises develops, while the NBA and FIBA will continue to assess the space for their own European league. For that reason, the ECA decisions from Barcelona are less a final point, and more the beginning of a transitional season that could determine the architecture of European basketball for the next decade.
Sources:
- Euroleague Basketball Media Centre – announcement on the decisions of the ECA Board of Directors for the 2026/27 season, including the EuroLeague, EuroCup, SuperCup, calendar and financial measures (link)
- Euroleague Basketball Media Centre – official list of BKT EuroCup 2026/27 participants and description of the expanded 32-club format (link)
- Euroleague Basketball Media Centre – joint statement by Euroleague Basketball, FIBA and the NBA on the continuation of talks on the future of European basketball in June 2026 (link)
- FIBA – joint statement by FIBA, the NBA and Euroleague Basketball after the meeting in Mies on April 28, 2026 (link)
- NBA Communications – official announcement by the NBA and FIBA on exploring a new professional men’s basketball league in Europe (link)
- El País – report on Real Madrid’s extension of cooperation with the EuroLeague and the broader transition toward a franchise model (link)