The Euroleague Commercial Assets (ECA) Board of Directors approved the 20-team lineup for the 2026-27 EuroLeague season during its meeting in Barcelona on Friday, with the decisions set to be submitted to the ECA General Assembly for ratification on July 7.
The competition will feature the same 20 clubs that participated during the 2025-26 campaign, with one notable change. AS Monaco, which reached last season’s playoffs after finishing eighth in the regular season with a 22-16 record, has been replaced by Besiktas Istanbul, which received a one-year wildcard. Paris Basketball also secured a one-year wildcard and will remain in the competition after finishing 16th last season with a 15-23 record.
The remaining field includes reigning EuroLeague champion Olympiacos, runner-up Real Madrid, Valencia Basket, Fenerbahce, Zalgiris, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Panathinaikos, Barcelona, Crvena Zvezda, Dubai Basketball, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Bayern Munich, EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, Partizan, Virtus Bologna, Baskonia, Anadolu Efes and LDLC ASVEL.
Beyond confirming the participating teams, the Board reiterated its commitment to expanding the EuroLeague from 20 to 24 clubs beginning with the 2027-28 season. Officials agreed to continue evaluating competition formats that would accommodate the larger field while maintaining the current principle that every team plays every other team and improving integration with the broader European basketball calendar.
The Board also approved a ten-year license extension for Real Madrid following the completion of the approval process earlier this week, further securing one of the league’s founding clubs as the competition prepares for its next phase of growth.
Euroleague Basketball CEO Chus Bueno also updated the Board on the ongoing transition from long-term club licenses to a franchise model, a process expected to be completed during the 2026-27 season. In addition, he confirmed that the formal process for allocating future franchises will begin on July 1, with significant interest already expressed by existing EuroLeague clubs, basketball organizations and investors seeking entry into new markets.
Another major development was the approval of the EuroLeague SuperCup, a new competition that will debut on Sept. 18-19, 2026. Euroleague Basketball has yet to announce the tournament format or participating clubs, with further details expected in the coming months.
