Valencia Basket is negotiating a permanent license to join the EuroLeague franchise pool in a process that will define up to eight new slots before the 2027-28 season. The Spanish club is among the eleven projects that have already passed an initial technical and financial screening.
A key decision at the end of September
The European competition is moving forward with an expansion plan designed to grant up to eight additional licenses over the coming months. Shareholders are expected to vote at the end of September on how many franchises are awarded and which clubs will join the first phase of the new model from 2027-28.
That first evaluation has already produced a shortlist of eleven candidates, including Valencia Basket alongside projects such as Dubai Basketball, Virtus Bologna, Partizan, Crvena Zvezda, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Paris Basketball, PAOK, Napoli Basket, London Lions and Maxima Roma, as reported by Gigantes del Basket and Encestando.
Valencia targets one of the first eight slots
The Spanish club has spent weeks negotiating with the EuroLeague to secure one of the earliest available spots. The competition intends to reward teams that already compete in the tournament and want to turn their current participation into a permanent license.
That veteran group also includes Partizan, Crvena Zvezda, Dubai BC, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Paris Basketball and Virtus Bologna. If all of them reach an agreement, only one place would remain open for clubs currently outside the EuroLeague.
Different price tiers and profit sharing
The negotiations are not uniform. For clubs with recent EuroLeague history, such as Valencia, Virtus or Partizan, figures around EUR 50 million spread across several installments are being discussed. New projects or clubs outside the competition would likely face significantly higher fees.
Securing a franchise would mean obtaining a permanent license and entering the annual profit-sharing model, a structural leap compared with the current temporary participation framework.
Toward a larger EuroLeague and a new format
If the eight licenses planned for this phase are completed, the EuroLeague could approach 21 A-license teams next summer, excluding EuroCup finalists. That number moves close to the recently agreed ceiling of 24 participants and could pave the way for a format built around two twelve-team divisions instead of the traditional double round-robin schedule.
The competition is presenting the process as part of a broader transformation: new franchises, greater investment and commercial growth. Part of the revenue generated in this bidding process, involving more than twenty clubs and cities, would be returned to the teams that helped relaunch the EuroLeague in 2000.
