NBA European League Remains on Schedule

June has been an exciting and busy month on the NBA calendar. The New York Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs to win their first NBA title in 53 years, and one of the deeper NBA drafts in recent memory was held a week and a half later.

What might have been lost in the shuffle was some major news regarding the NBA’s plans to establish a stronghold position in Europe in the near future.

Commissioner Adam Silver confirmed during the 2026 NBA Finals that plans for an NBA-run European league are progressing as anticipated.

“We are very much on schedule. It is our hope and anticipation that the league will launch in the ’27-’28 season in Europe. We are on track,” Silver said.

Adam Silver says the NBA is on track to launch the Europe league in 2027-28.

— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) June 3, 2026

The framework of the league is also well established.

“What we’re planning to launch with, essentially, is a 16-team league,” Silver stated. “Twelve permanent franchises and then the ability for, frankly, any club in Europe to play in those remaining slots. A modified open league or a modified closed league, depending on how you want to look at it. That’s the structure that we’re talking to these potential franchises about.”

According to reports, the 12 permanent teams will be located in Rome, Milan, London, Manchester, Paris, Lyon, Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, Munich, Athens and Istanbul.

While the league is expected to announce winning bids for the 12 permanent teams in the next two to three months, NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum said that the league isn’t going to rush this process.

“We’re going to identify the right partners in the right cities, and we’re going to take as much time as we need in order to identify those right partners,” Tatum said.

“We’re talking not only existing basketball teams in the ecosystem, but we’re talking to soccer teams that currently don’t have basketball teams that are interested, and we’re also talking to individuals and other entities who don’t have a basketball team but want to invest in a basketball team.”

Tatum also pointed out that Europe only has a couple of “world-class” basketball arenas, which will also be a point of emphasis for improvement in the years to come.

While the EuroLeague was viewed as an intriguing option with regards to existing potential for the new NBA venture, Silver said that their involvement is not mandatory to their next steps.

“It’s our hope that we can find a way to integrate these operations with the EuroLeague, but we will move forward either way,” Silver said.

NBA Europe will launch with a 16-team league with 12 permanent franchises.

Silver: “Any club can play in those remaining spots.”

Discussions with EuroLeague will continue, but the NBA Europe league will move forward no matter what EuroLeague decides. https://t.co/5htsUH5XZU

— Brett Siegel (@BrettSiegelNBA) June 3, 2026

It is going to be intriguing to see how this all comes together for the NBA and its 12 permanent European franchises during the rest of the year. There are some other underlying subplots that still have yet to be worked out, such as whether NBA players can have a stake in this European venture.

“In terms of whether it’s Luka Doncic (who bought a piece of a team in Italy) or other players owning teams, that has not been resolved yet,” Silver said. That’s an issue we have to work through with our players association.”

The NBA European League
Category	Details
The Status	NBA Commissioner Adam Silver recently confirmed that the league is "very much on schedule" to launch its standalone European basketball league.
The Timeline	The current target for the inaugural tip-off is the 2027–28 season, with final bids from prospective franchise ownership groups due by the end of June 2026.
The Structure	Operated in close partnership with FIBA, the proposed competition will feature 12 permanent franchises alongside four rotating qualifying teams.
Target Markets	The NBA has its sights set on major European metropolises, including London, Paris, Berlin, Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, and Athens.
Cross-Sport Synergy	To instantly build massive fanbases, the NBA has actively approached massive European football clubs—such as Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Milan, and AC Milan—about forming and backing the new basketball franchises.
The EuroLeague Dynamic	The NBA's timeline sets up a massive clash (or potential merger) with the existing EuroLeague, which is simultaneously expanding to 20 clubs for the 2026–27 season and prepping its own long-term structural changes. Silver noted the NBA hopes to "integrate" with EuroLeague, but will move forward regardless.