Zvezda, Partizan Pay 50 Million for EuroLeague License

Ostoja Mijailovic stood before the Partizan Assembly and for the first time laid out in public the figure that will define the club’s future in the EuroLeague. The Partizan president presented members with the results of the club’s ongoing procedure for securing a permanent license and announced that the Competition Board’s decision is expected in early October.

The same Assembly was also presented with a plan for a long term lease and investment in the club’s infrastructure, separate from the license question. If the project goes ahead, Partizan would get a modern training center from June 2027, with four courts, two gyms, a medical wing, a restaurant and office space, bringing all of the club’s teams under one roof. The investment is worth around 4.5 million euros in total, while the first team would keep playing its games at Belgrade Arena.

The figure, it turns out, is the same for the eternal rival. A permanent EuroLeague license costs Red Star and Partizan 50 million euros each. Each club must pay at least 25 percent of that amount, or 12.5 million euros, by October 15, 2026, and can pay off the rest over the following ten years, roughly 5 million euros a year. That leaves both Belgrade clubs just over a month to secure the first and largest installment.

Who else is in the running?

Eleven candidates made it into the first phase of selection for a permanent place in the league: Partizan, Red Star, Dubai, Valencia, Roma Maxima, PAOK, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Napoli, London Lions, Paris and Virtus Bologna.

Nova.rs reports that eight clubs are expected to sign a contract with the EuroLeague by the end of September, with their obligations under the new model starting from that point: Red Star, Partizan, Virtus, Valencia, Paris, Hapoel Tel Aviv and PAOK. According to the same source, three clubs are still waiting: Roma Maxima, London and Napoli.

The prices don’t match up

This is where the sources disagree. Nova.rs writes that PAOK will pay as much as 90 million euros for its license, while Dubai will pay 80 million, which would mean the Greek club is paying almost double what Red Star and Partizan owe in the long run. Mondo, citing Virtus owner Massimo Zanetti, gives different figures: Dubai, he says, should pay 90 million euros, while clubs joining the system after the first six historic members should pay 85 million.

Zanetti, speaking before his own club’s Assembly, was the first of the officials named in this story to go into detail about the payment mechanism and what the franchise brings.

“The price will be 50 million euros, paid over ten years, or five million a year. Once the purchase goes through, the franchise owner keeps its place in the competition, just as is the case in the NBA. It will be something spectacular,” the Italian said, adding: “Revenue will grow, through television rights and programs tied to the NBA Europe project.”

Virtus of Bologna, which Zanetti owns, pays the same price as Red Star and Partizan by his account, 50 million euros.

The franchise system works like this: thirteen clubs, including the six historic founders of the EuroLeague, automatically get franchise status, and the league is adding eight more permanent spots alongside them. From the 2027/28 season the EuroLeague expands to 24 clubs split into groups, a model Zanetti openly compares to the NBA. We covered how that future took shape when owners of European and NBA clubs sat down together at Lake Como.

The ball is now in the clubs’ hands. Red Star and Partizan have just over a month to find 12.5 million euros each, a sum rarely paid in a single installment in Serbian basketball. The EuroLeague board meets in early October, and that is when it will become clear whether both Belgrade clubs are joining the 24 team league on the same terms as Europe’s giants, or whether one of them ends up waiting alongside Rome, London and Naples.