EuroLeague Moves to Franchises: What Changes for Clubs and Fans

The EuroLeague is the top club competition in European basketball, and it has always run on its own rules. It has never worked like a domestic league with promotion and relegation, and it has never been a closed system like the NBA either. Its owners have now agreed to turn the long-term places held by the biggest clubs into permanent ones, known as franchises.

In practice, 13 clubs, including Real Madrid, Barcelona, Olympiacos and Fenerbahce, will keep their places in the competition with no end date, and the league plans to expand to 24 teams, up from 20, in the 2027-28 season. Fans who follow every round, from season-ticket holders to people who read basketball betting tips before placing a pre-match bet, will notice the change in which opponents appear each season and how settled the field becomes. A permanent place also shapes how a club plans its budget, signs players and builds an audience, and those decisions end up on the court.

Most of the coverage so far has focused on money and on the stand-off with the NBA. The more practical question is what a permanent place means for the teams that hold one, for those still outside, and for the people who buy the tickets. Some answers favour the fans, others do not, and part of the picture depends on decisions the league has yet to take.

The Key Changes at a Glance

The reform has several parts, and the main points fit into a short list:

• The 13 shareholder clubs will convert their ten-year licences into franchises without paying an entry fee.

• The competition intends to expand to 24 teams, up from 20, in the 2027-28 season.

• Up to eight new long-term franchises will go to outside applicants.

• The league reserves two places for EuroCup qualifiers and keeps the option of wild cards.

• Under a new revenue model, each member keeps 65% of the net broadcast income from its home market.

• The format of a 24-team season is still under review.

Licences and Franchises: Where the Difference Lies

Until now, the core clubs have held long-term licences, most recently on ten-year terms. A licence gives a team the right to play in the competition for a fixed period, after which both sides must agree to renew it. In the latest renewal round, several leading clubs took months to sign new terms while the NBA was courting them for its own European project.

With a franchise there is no end date: the holder keeps its place indefinitely, cannot lose it through poor results and owns a long-term asset whose value can grow and attract investors, much as NBA teams do. The league's strategic plan projects that the value of these assets could double within three to four years. That figure is the organisers' forecast rather than a guarantee.

For the 13 shareholders, day-to-day life changes less than the new label suggests, because they could not lose their status before either. What they gain is security and value: a permanent place is easier to plan around and to present to investors than a contract with an expiry date. The bigger shift concerns the teams that do not hold one yet.

Which Clubs Hold a Permanent Place

At a meeting in Italy, the owners agreed to move ahead with the conversion for all 13 shareholders. The list covers clubs from nine countries:

• Anadolu Efes and Fenerbahce (Turkey)

• Real Madrid, Barcelona and Baskonia (Spain)

• Olympiacos and Panathinaikos (Greece)

• Olimpia Milan (Italy), Bayern Munich (Germany) and ASVEL (France)

• Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel) and Zalgiris Kaunas (Lithuania)

• CSKA Moscow (Russia)

In practice, CSKA is a special case: the Moscow side has not played in the EuroLeague since the organisers suspended Russian teams in 2022. That is why reports speak of 21 franchise holders after expansion, or 20 active ones while the suspension lasts.

How a New Club Can Get In

Up to eight new franchises are available, and there is no single price for them. The league sets each entry fee individually, based on:

• the size and importance of the applicant's market

• its past contribution to the competition

• fan engagement

• whether it is an established club or a new project

• its commercial potential

Reported fees run into the tens of millions of euros per place. More than 20 parties registered interest, from current EuroLeague and EuroCup teams to new projects in cities such as Rome, Berlin and London, and the owners' board still has to confirm which applicants will join.

Clubs without that kind of money keep two ways in: the EuroCup route and wild cards. That keeps a sporting path open, but a narrow one. If all eight franchises are awarded, 21 of the 24 places will be permanent, and merit will decide only a small share of the field.

What Changes for the Clubs

For the shareholders, the reform brings certainty. Without a renewal date, a club can plan a budget, an arena project or a youth programme over many years instead of over the length of a licence. The new revenue model adds a direct incentive, because each member keeps 65% of the net broadcast income from its home market, so teams in big television markets gain most from their own audiences.

Outside the core, the picture is harder. A newcomer has to pay a large fee before playing a single game, and many European clubs already lose money every season, with wealthy owners covering the gap. Historic sides from smaller cities may find that a strong basketball record alone does not secure a place when market size counts towards the price.

There is a sporting cost as well. Several new members arriving at the same time could widen the gap between the strongest teams and the rest for the first few seasons, because a fresh roster in a new market rarely competes at the top straight away. The two EuroCup qualifiers will also join a field where most rivals can never drop out, so their margin for error is much smaller.

What Changes for the Fans

For supporters of the franchise holders, permanent membership guarantees the biggest fixtures. Derbies such as Olympiacos against Panathinaikos or Fenerbahce against Anadolu Efes will return every season, and so will visits from the strongest teams. Applicants from cities such as Rome and London could also bring top-level European games to fans who rarely see them in person.

The league has not settled the format yet, although it has said it wants to keep the principle that every team plays every other. A full home-and-away season with 24 sides would mean 46 rounds instead of the current 38. Reports have also mentioned groups or conferences to limit the load, and that choice will decide how many games fans see and how much each one matters.

Fans also lose some of the tension that comes with the risk of failure, because a franchise cannot fall out of the competition after a poor season. Less is therefore at stake in a weak campaign than in a domestic league with relegation. Supporters of clubs outside the group face the opposite problem: their route to the top now depends on the EuroCup and on how the organisers hand out the few remaining places.

The Risks Behind the Model

Selling permanent places only works if the competition can grow into them. European clubs have a long record of financial losses, and Euroleague Basketball chief executive Chus Bueno has acknowledged that a market such as the UK carries more risk, since the sport there lacks the spectator base it has in its traditional strongholds.

The second risk comes from the NBA, which is preparing its own European league together with FIBA. The EuroLeague owners have rejected an NBA proposal for a joint project in its current form, and talks may continue. For now, the franchise model is the organisers' answer: it ties the biggest clubs to the competition for the long term, whatever happens in those negotiations.

What the New EuroLeague Will Look Like

The reform changes what the leading sides compete for. Under licences, they had to protect their status at every renewal; as franchise holders, they can focus on results, players and their local market. The established shareholders gain the most, since they receive a permanent asset without paying for it, while newcomers will pay heavily for the same security.

For fans, the result is a more stable league with guaranteed big games, a smaller role for sporting merit and a format still to be decided. The first seasons under the new system will show whether that trade works: either the new members establish themselves, or they struggle against rivals with decades of history.