Euroleague Como Vote: Zvezda and Partizan Await Verdict

Dinner on Monday evening, a meeting on Tuesday morning. That is the order in which Euroleague club owners gather on the shore of Lake Como in Italy to settle a question that has weighed on European basketball for months: does the Euroleague turn into a closed competition built on franchises, and who gets eight new spots? For Serbia, one thing matters most: whether Crvena Zvezda and Partizan will hold a permanent place in the continent’s top club competition from the 2027/28 season.

It is rare for the owners themselves to step into a story like this, rather than managing directors. Even so, according to B92, citing Sportando, Olimpija Milano will be represented by Armani group executives Leo Del’Orko and Mikele Takerla. The outlet reports that the gathering is being held in Cernobbio on Lake Como.

Who votes, and on what?

Thirteen owners of current A licenses have a vote:

• Real Madrid
• Barcelona
• Baskonia
• Olympiacos
• Panathinaikos
• Anadolu Efes
• Fenerbahce
• Maccabi Tel Aviv
• Olimpija Milano
• ASVEL
• Bayern Munich
• Zalgiris
• CSKA Moscow

According to Mozzart Sport, the first step is a vote on moving from licenses to a franchise system. Only if that passes do the owners vote on eight new franchises from the 2027/2028 season. The Euroleague plans to grow to 24 clubs, and 28 is possible later.

Eleven clubs have applied for the eight spots:

• Partizan
• Crvena Zvezda
• Dubai
• Hapoel Tel Aviv
• London Lions
• Napoli
• PAOK
• Paris
• Roma
• Valencia
• Virtus Bologna

Sport Klub reports that Zvezda and Partizan are in the narrowest circle of candidates, but that talks with the NBA could delay the decision. Mozzart Sport also mentions planned investment of more than 3.2 billion euros over the next five years. The entry fee for new clubs, as Sport Klub writes, falls between 40 and 90 million euros.

What is actually on the table: franchises or NBA Europe?

Here the sources diverge. Sport Klub, citing the Catalan paper Mundo Deportivo, writes that on Tuesday the owners discuss the NBA’s proposal for a joint competition from October 2027. Mozzart Sport claims the subject of the vote is the move to franchises and the admission of new members, and that the NBA’s offer will not even be formally considered.

Both sides agree on one thing: NBA Europe is present in every version of the story. According to published plans, the league would have 16 participants, 12 of them permanent, in Barcelona, Madrid, Athens, Rome, Milan, London, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Istanbul, Manchester and Lyon, plus four spots through qualifying. The price of a permanent spot, according to Mozzart Sport, starts at 500 million euros and can reach a billion. Sport Klub gives a range of 430 to 860 million.

Sportando, whose information B92 relays, claims that Belgrade and Kaunas were never seriously mentioned as cities for NBA Europe, and that neither the NBA nor FIBA will have representatives at the meeting in Italy.

Why does Barcelona stand out?

According to Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona president Joan Laporta is coming to Como in person, although he first planned to send aides. The same paper claims that last week in Copenhagen, at a meeting of the association of European football clubs, Laporta spoke with NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum. Mozzart Sport adds that the NBA, as reported, sees the football giants Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern, Paris Saint-Germain and Milan as the carriers of the new project.

If no agreement is reached, both leagues could start the 2027/28 season with their own competition. Mozzart Sport points out that Europe does not have forty or so top-level clubs to fill two competitions. Sport Klub recalls the 2000/01 season, when the Euroleague and the FIBA Suproleague existed side by side.

The vote is on Tuesday, October 6, and according to Sport Klub it is not ruled out that talks with the NBA will postpone the decision on franchises.