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- EuroLeague targeting collective enterprise valuation of €2.5bn in three seasons
- League will consider expanding beyond 20 teams
- Revenue set to grow by 9% YoY
Euroleague Basketball wants to raise €2.5 billion (US$2.91 billion) in capital over the next three seasons to fund growth and modernise its infrastructure.
Up to €1.5 billion (US$1.74 billion) will be sought to support strategic growth initiatives, with an additional €1 billion (US$1.16 billion) deployed in a commercial venture to develop EuroLeague venues.
The European club basketball competition previously told SportsPro it was aiming to set a valuation of €3 billion (US$3.49 billion) in five years, with private equity firm BC Partners then linked with making an investment in the competition.
The business roadmap will also explore the possibility of establishing a franchise model with permanent licenses for clubs. Enlarging the 20-team league is also under consideration, with ‘strategic geographic expansion’ part of the framework.
Euroleague Basketball also noted it would further invest in direct-to-consumer (DTC) capabilities and digital acceleration, as well as making structural adjustments to optimise governance, operational scalability and commercial performance.
At a board meeting, the league projected year-on-year revenue growth of nine per cent, with distributions to clubs to rise by 18 per cent. For the club level, market revenues have grown by 40 per cent over the previous three seasons, with gameday revenues rising by 85 per cent and commercial income also increasing by 30 per cent in the period.
Newly appointed Euroleague Basketball chief executive Jesus ‘Chus’ Bueno additionally provided an update on talks held with the National Basketball Association (NBA) around collaboration opportunities in Europe. The NBA plans to launch a European competition in 2027, and the hiring of Bueno, who previously worked at the North American league, signalled an intention to improve relations between the two organisations.
‘The board reaffirmed its openness to exploring a strategic partnership framework, both at the league and individual club level,’ the league said in a statement.
‘The league’s executive management team will continue engaging in dialogue with the NBA and, following the conclusion of the latter’s ongoing process this month to explore market feedback on its investment data room, will jointly evaluate all potential strategic opportunities’.
A key short-term priority for the league will be to find a new broadcaster in France, with the competition this week terminating its broadcast deal with Fedcom Media and its Skweek platform. The league has confirmed it will relaunch the EuroLeague TV DTC streaming service to show games from the EuroLeague and EuroCup competitions in France, Monaco and French overseas territories.
Meanwhile, it has also been forced to suspend several EuroLeague games involving its two Tel Aviv clubs and Dubai Basketball, due to the closure of airspace in the Middle East as a result of the conflict breaking out in the region.
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