On 16 October 2026, the Euroleague unveiled a 10-year business plan.
I love a good “plan.”
And there are some big things here:
€13 billion valuation for the league.
€3.4 billion in club distributions.
A transition to a franchise-based model.
Expansion fees.
Some specifics.
But don’t be fooled by this…it is a forecast.
Detailed…but still a forecast.
Not a plan.
Not a strategy.
The distinction matters.
The numbers are projections. Optimistic, by nature.
Why these numbers will work…that’s missing.
Nothing stands up and says, “Obviously this should work.”
In the absence of that, we should have questions such as:
How will they achieve these numbers?
Why will investors and sponsors invest in the Euroleague when the NBA and FIBA are planning their own league?
What’s in it for the fans?
And these are a start.
What I see looks like a script.
Expansion as growth.
This isn’t a new thing.
The Euroleague didn’t invent this script.
We’ve seen it in leagues around the world.
Add some teams.
Collect some fees.
New valuations inflate the assets.
More is better.
A financial maneuver…called a “strategy.”
The financialization of the league is the point.
But there is no talk about the value created for fans and partners…the ones paying the bill for these increased values.
A quote in the release makes a huge promise: “Clubs will keep ownership on a valuable asset without requiring any additional risks or investments.”
No new risks?
No new investments?
Wait a minute.
There is always risk.
Standing still is a risk. Changing a business model is definitely a risk.
If someone tells me there is no risk, I get worried.
Because the person telling you there is no risk is doing one of two things:
Trying to pull the wool over your eyes.
Or they just aren’t looking for risk…because they don’t want to see it.
The Euroleague isn’t unique.
This is just an example that allows us to see where our own strategy might be missing something.
We’ve all sat in meetings where someone presents a five-year plan.
The revenue targets. The market share goals. A slide with the numbers going up.
These presentations have a lot of things.
What they miss is a choice. A decision about what we do and who we do it for.
The value we create is just expected to be inherent.
A plan tells us what actions we should take.
A forecast tells us what we hope the numbers will be.
A strategy tells us where we are going. And…why we think it will work.
The Euroleague has shown us the first two.
The last one is missing.
The Euroleague release shows us a plan for the money. It forecasts growth.
We can’t see the strategy to get them there.
But I’m more worried about you.
Can you see where your strategy is taking you?