Mark Tatum Gives An Update On NBA Europe’s Plans For 2027

Since its early 2025 announcement, NBA Europe has grown despite recent challenges. While the EuroLeague's rejection of partnering with both the NBA and FIBA on the project led some to believe that the project may be pushed back a year, all the way to 2028, with a qualifying competition planned for 2027, recent comments by the NBA's deputy commissioner, Mark Tatum, have suggested otherwise.

NBA Europe will be a 16-team league with 12 permanent teams; FIBA's Basketball Champions League or other domestic competitions could determine the remaining four rotational teams.

The league has attracted significant attention from potential ownership groups led by people with deep ties to the NBA. These include BC Roma, owned by Luka Doncic ; Tony Parker's ASVEL squad ; and the Buss brothers , who formerly owned the Lakers.

So, between the billion-dollar bids, rejection from the EuroLeague, and a stated deadline of just a year from now, where does NBA Europe currently stand?

The NBA's earlier offer to merge with the EuroLeague was rejected by Europe's premier basketball competition as 'colonialist' and 'unacceptable'. Despite this rejection, deputy commissioner Tatum remains 'hopeful' of resolving the matter.

"I don't want to disclose any private conversations with the EuroLeague," Tatum recently said. As we've said before, we continue to be hopeful that we'll reach an agreement, but we're prepared to proceed regardless."

Tatum's answer was much less definite about when NBA Europe would launch. At the same time, the deputy commissioner reiterated that the NBA still planned to launch the league by October 2027, but made no promises.

"Well, we're not stopping," Tatum previously stated. "We're moving and proceeding as quickly as we can. As we just discussed, owe planto begin rolling out the [NBA Europe] project in October of 2027, which is a year from now. So we've got a lot of work to do, but we're moving quickly, and we're not slowing down at all."

One of the reasons the NBA's proposal was rejected was its condition that the EuroLeague's composition could not change, meaning the EuroLeague could not expand or alter the number of shareholder teams.

This condition would have prevented the EuroLeague from expanding to a potential 24 teams from the current 20, as well as from increasing the number of shareholder teams. It has been suggested that the NBA is unlikely to proceed with the sale of its own NBA Europe franchises, some of which have attracted billion-dollar bids, until an agreement of sorts is reached with the EuroLeague.

The EuroLeague has announced that it will expand in two windows, with the first in 2027 and the second in 2031.

Five executives representing major European sports clubs, including Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain, met with NBA Europe officials in London on Wednesday, per Mark Kleinman of SkyNews . The first three clubs are existing EuroLeague teams. Details of the meeting have not been released publicly.

This meeting in London could help move talks with the EuroLeague forward for two main reasons: First, the NBA has not yet officially moved its launch date for NBA Europe from the fall of 2027. Secondly, a partnership would greatly benefit the NBA, given the EuroLeague's nearly seven decades of experience in the European market.

"We believe that the timing is realistic here. Remember, this is not just about a season," said Tatum, referring to the NBA's set launch date of October 2027 .

Despite being about a year away from the league's launch, many details of the project have not yet been publicly revealed. This includes who the favorites are among the ownership groups that have made multi-million-dollar bids, with all locations receiving bids exceeding $500 million, and some even exceeding $1 billion.

This is not helped by Tatum's statement that the NBA has no specific timeline for announcing the winning bidders.

"There is no timeline yet on when we announce the clubs." Tatum reiterated . "I will say, as I said, our timeline is that we plan to start rolling this thing out a year from now. So in the not-too-distant future, we expect to be able to announce some of the franchises."

While they were part of the meeting in Como, Italy, that rejected the NBA's initial proposal, the NBA's meeting with some of Europe's biggest sports clubs could significantly alter the venture. The NBA could woo PSG and AC Milan to join its Europe venture, a huge win for the league.

On the other hand, the meeting also allows the NBA to approach EuroLeague clubs with a brand-new proposal that may offer more favorable terms for the EuroLeague, now that it is clear the league intends to commit to expansion fully.

As things stand now among the NBA , FIBA, and the EuroLeague, with the stage set for a showdown between basketball powerhouses, it is not yet clear which will emerge victorious.