By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
During a high-level meeting in Geneva, Basketball Champions League clubs were briefed on a transformative roadmap for the debut of the new continental competition, widely known as NBA Europe.
The 2026-27 BCL season is set to function as the premier qualification tier for this ambitious project, with the finalists of the Final Four 2027 punching in tickets to the inaugural 2027-28 season, according to Eurohoops sources.
The new 16-team league, a landmark joint venture between the NBA and FIBA, is scheduled for an October 2027 tipoff.
#BasketballCL clubs were informed recently in a meeting at Geneva that the 2026-27 season will serve also as qualification for NBA Europe with the BCL finalists getting two of the four open spots in the new 16-team league.
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— Aris Barkas (@arbarkas) February 25, 2026
While the league is designed around 12 permanent franchises in major hubs like London, Paris, and Madrid, four slots remain open for annual promotion.
Beyond the Champions League finalists, the remaining two open spots will be contested in season-ending qualification tournaments in late June 2027, with entries determined by domestic league rankings.
This framework ensures that top-performing clubs across Europe maintain a fair, performance-driven pathway to the elite level. Moving forward, this 25% allocation rate for promoted teams is expected to remain a core tenet of the league, even if the field expands in later years.
The 2026-27 season marks the 11th anniversary of the BCL. Historically, the league has been dominated by Spanish teams, with La Laguna Tenerife, San Pablo Burgos, and Unicaja each securing two titles. Other champions have been AEK, Virtus Bologna, and Telekom Baskets Bonn. To date, Spain leads the continent with nine Final appearances, followed by Turkiye, Greece, Italy, France, Germany, and Israel, underscoring the broad competitive landscape this new league aims to unify.