Big decisions lie ahead, but big things are ahead for the EuroLeague’s 25th anniversary season

As the EuroLeague heads into its 25th anniversary season, its future is anything but clear. It’s not going bankrupt – like the British Basketball League – but its fight for relevance in a rapidly expanding competitive landscape is getting more difficult every season for several reasons.

With the NBA’s continued salary cap increase, the minimum contract for a five-year player is about the same level as a top-10 salary in the EuroLeague. That has led to more players in the NBA betting on themselves, as Guerschon Yabusele did after his strong Olympics performance with the Philadelphia 76ers.

The emergence of zero funds has led to the exploitation of young talent in European basketball clubs. Egor Demin, Fedor Zugic and many others left Europe this summer for NIL deals. Karim Lopez left Joventut Badalona – one of Europe’s legendary development clubs – and joined Australia’s NBL Next Stars program.

EuroLeague Commercial Assets is currently valued at approximately $3.3 billion and is looking to sell a minority stake. This means the league as a whole has the same rating as the Washington Wizards. the NBA’s 17th most valuable franchiseaccording to HoopsHype.

In the face of growing inequality, the EuroLeague remains perseverant and continues to seek solutions. Political instability in Israel and Russia is not helping. CSKA Moscow remains embroiled in discussions over the future of the competition, while its team remains banned from the competition. Maccabi Tel Aviv may be facing another season without home games.

The half-full prospect is that the EuroLeague will finally have a presence in the Paris market as newcomer Paris Basketball joins the competition after winning the 2024 EuroCup trophy. EuroLeague has long wanted a presence in London and Paris. While London still seems a long way off, Paris is finally here and Berlin is still hanging by a thread as ALBA Berlin looks set to finish bottom of the standings for another season.

EuroLeague is also implementing a salary cap system in hopes of maintaining competitiveness and stability in the current environment with a financial model that often helps protect owners from themselves.

Finally, there is the question of Dubai and expansion into the Middle East with significant upfront investment. Saudi Arabia SURJ Sports Investment has joined the race to buy a minority stake according to the Financial Times (FT) in the EuroLeague elite basketball competition. And although fierce opposition from long-time Euroleague fans seemed to put a damper on the immediate addition of a team from Dubai, the door is clearly open. Dubai BC was able to join the Adriatic League, put together a solid squad this summer and even beat Crvena Zvezda in their opening game. Should they win their domestic title, they’ll have a path to a EuroLeague Wildcard berth or a EuroCup berth sooner rather than later.

While what goes on behind the scenes is unclear and a far cry from the EuroLeague many have fallen in love with, the play on the field is the same, gearing up for the best season in recent memory thanks to what The core of it has always been success of competition: rivalries.

Panathinaikos won their first EuroLeague title in over a decade has pushed Olympiacos Piraeus to make some big leaps this off-season via Sasha Vezenkov and Evan Fournier as well as proven EuroLeaguers Tyler Dorsey, Keenan Evans and Luca Vildoza. Panathinaikos responded accordingly, adding Lorenzo Brown and Cedi Osman, making it clear that they will not settle for less than two consecutive titles.

The Greek derby will once again be in the focus of spectators this season, as will the one in Belgrade. Partizan responded to last season’s embarrassments by fielding a new squad These include Aleksej Pokusevski, Carlik Jones, Sterling Brown, Isaac Bonga and many other top-class talents. Crvena Zvezda was just one step better than its rivals last season and also brought new faces with them. Codi Miller-McIntyre, Isaiah Canaan and Nikola Kalinic provide depth at every position, and Zvezda will hope that is enough to get into the game – or at least beat Partizan.

Although Real Madrid narrowly failed in the final last season, the team ran riot at home. Barcelona and Baskonia are not happy with the gap between them and Real. Baskonia brought in Pablo Laso, a former player with the club and coach who won the EuroLeague championship with Real Madrid, to help them make the jump. They will need more than Laso’s leadership, which is why they have extended stars Markus Howard and Tadas Sedekerskis. If someone steps forward, Baskonia might make a noise.

Barcelona fired Roger Grimau shortly after the end of the season, replacing him with Joan Pennaroya – who started last season as Baskonia’s head coach – and signed Kevin Punter, Chimezie Metu, Juan Nunez, Justin Anderson and others which they believe can help them compete with Real. That seems unlikely, but the fight will still be entertaining.

And of course there is Fenerbahce and Anadolu Efes Istanbul. Both clubs have won the EuroLeague trophy in the last decade and want to do it again. Fenerbahce brought in Wade Baldwin IV and Bonzie Colson to work with Nigel Hayes-Davis, arguably the best forward in the EuroLeague. The trio is good enough to beat anyone.

Efes added Stanley Johnson, Jordan Nwora and Vincent Poirier around Shane Larkin and Darius Thompson. This is their most expensive squad in recent memoryand expectations are high.

While the future of the Euroleague will likely look significantly different than it has in the last 25 years, on the court the game will retain everything that makes it unique: rivalries, passion, talent and a weekly level of importance that the NBA can’t come close to matching.