Red Star and Partizan Miss First Euroleague Franchise Cut
According to unofficial information from Mozzart Sport, the Belgrade clubs are not in the first wave, while shareholders added Thessaloniki's PAOK to the list.
Two weeks after the Euroleague derby between Partizan and Red Star, played on October 22, both clubs have slipped out of the group of favorites they had long belonged to in a second race, the one for franchise licenses. According to unofficial information from Mozzart Sport, neither Red Star nor Partizan is currently in line to receive franchise status in the first wave.
Who is in the race for Euroleague franchises?
The Euroleague presented shareholders with a proposal of five candidates: Valencia, Paris, Dubai, Hapoel Tel Aviv and Roma. The shareholders were given room to comment on the list and propose names of their own, and they added a sixth, Thessaloniki’s PAOK. Mozzart Sport writes that the Greek club is reportedly ready to pay between 120 and 150 million euros to join that company.
Unofficially, three clubs have the best chances:
- Valencia
- Paris
- Dubai
For the remaining license, if a fourth is awarded, Roma, PAOK and Hapoel are competing.
The figures differ from source to source. The Spanish site Encestando reported in mid-October, and Sportando relayed, that the first four franchises would go to Valencia, Paris, Dubai and PAOK. In that report Valencia and Paris pay about 50 million euros each, Dubai 70 million and PAOK up to 130 million, roughly 300 million in total. Mozzart Sport gives 120 to 150 million euros for PAOK. According to Sportando, the first installment would fall due in December, after final approval.
How many franchises are being awarded, and when?
That has not been decided either. Most of the reporting so far has pointed to a plan to award four franchises in November, then two each in February and June, but Mozzart Sport does not rule out a different decision, meaning more or fewer than four licenses in the first tranche. A final decision should be known in the coming days.
For the Euroleague, this is a question of money and of the shape of the competition. It plans to raise about 1.2 billion euros from the incoming franchises, and from the 2027/28 season the league moves to 24 teams, with 21 franchises. Thirteen of them stay with the current shareholders. The math with eight new places fits the plan of four, two and two licenses.
Why have the Belgrade clubs fallen behind?
Mozzart Sport learns unofficially that Partizan and Red Star had some support among shareholders for a place on the current list, but other clubs won greater favor. As an aggravating circumstance, that outlet cites the fact that both clubs are still state-owned, that is, partly financed from the same budget, however hard their management teams try to reduce that influence. The current social and political circumstances, it writes, do not work in their favor.
The price of entry was the subject of earlier speculation. For the Belgrade clubs, 50 million euros each was mentioned, of which 12.5 million would be paid immediately and the rest in installments on an agreed schedule. Sportando ties the same amount to Valencia and Paris in its report. On Saturday’s episode of the podcast “4x10”, listeners could hear that Red Star had also delivered bank guarantees to the Euroleague as proof it can pay the required money. Circumstances have changed in the meantime.
Sportando’s report did not place the Belgrade clubs among the first four earlier either. It says Partizan and Virtus Bologna are in advanced talks, but that their financial situation could delay their admission, while Red Star is placed in a later wave, alongside Hapoel.
Mozzart Sport nonetheless does not claim that the two biggest Serbian clubs are left with no chance at all. According to that source, the eternal rivals can still hope for a different fate in the next two rounds of license awards, in February and June, if the schedule plan stays in force.
