The difference between everything that is known about what could be called the new Euroleague directed by Chus Bueno and the uncertainty surrounding the birth of the European competition driven by NBA and the FIBA. It is somewhat reminiscent of what happens in the series. ‘Paradise’from Disney +, a parallel world is being built under a Colorado mountain before the decline of the existing one. The bunker has everything for a sustainable life to continue with a minimal part of humanity, survivors, but until entering the bowels of the mountain little or nothing is known about this peculiar paradise.
It is known that the NBA He has seen an opportunity. He believes in a new way of exploiting European basketball, which shares a very small piece of the cake that drives basketball in the sports business on the Old Continent. Being so important in terms of the strength of his game (71 European players in the NBA in the last season), popularity (around 270 million fans), size of their brands and number of practitioner licenses, income is minimal. Basketball represents less than 1% of the European sports media and sponsorship market, valued at just over 38,000 million euros.
A half success
The exploitation model of the Euroleague has not been as satisfactory as expected since its founding in 2000. The break with the FIBA It promised excitement in the competitive (achieved), a status of excellence and purity in the game in contrast to the singular NBA basketball (achieved) and prosperity for the business (a fruitless purpose). Basketball has generally generated losses in European clubs, of the order of 20 to 30 million per season in large projects. The prestige of the tournament that inherited the European Cup, the history of so many years of travel and the glory of the triumphs are great fuel for the engine of the European basketball giants in a flawed and practically closed ecosystem where losses are assumed simply for existing and the engine does not seize due to the inertia of the vehicle.
Chosen cities
The NBAwhich has also detected a basketball deficit at the highest continental level in large European cities (Rome, Berlin, London or Paris) wants to change that trend. Hence the creation of a new tournament that would hypothetically begin in October 2027 or it may be in 2028 Because this is not so simple, something so great cannot be created out of nothing without spending time and trying not to take false steps. The ‘roughly’ model is formed by 10 or 12 franchises settled in large European cities (already chosen, among others, Madrid, Barcelona, Munich, Berlin, Istanbul, Athens, Rome, London and Paris) and four or six more places that are achieved after sporting merits through the BCL and domestic competitions, FIBA’s eternal desire to take care of basketball from its foundations and protect the national Leagues. It is not a completely open competition, but it does satisfy the claims of the International Federation more.
Olimpic de Badalona during the Rytas-AEk of the BCL final
It is an old aspiration of European basketball, an old demand to avoid squeaky cases, like that of Murcia in 2024, runner-up without prize. In recent years, a closed competition was like summoning the devil. Think about what has happened to the Super League soccer. Now the door is open for Cinderellas to be princesses and to have access to the distribution of benefits. All. Because he Valencia He has paid three years to play in the Euroleague without getting anything in return, remember. You can’t even sell t-shirts Final Four. Harmony in the new NBA-FIBA tournament would also benefit the national teams: a freed calendar for the Qualification Windows and the best players can freely defend their countries.
I work in silence
The NBA has its protocols. He is taking his time in an undoubtedly long and expensive process, working in silence in a discreet manner and communicating little about his progress. The meeting in London It was extraordinary due to the size of its protagonists (the well-known CVC fund, among many others), but it did not give big headlines. There was also no ability to filter three or four powerful messages with first and last names. At the same time, questioning the manners of a competition that generates 76 billion is daring and distrusting a photo as powerful as that of Adam Silvercommissioner of the NBA and Andreas Zagklis, secretary general of the FIBAit’s daring. This is not a clip from a television show.
The ability to convince is one thing and the (little) communication of its ability to persuade clubs and potential investors is another. Just because it is not publicized does not mean that it is stopped or that the project is stagnant. We return to the bunker under the mountain… The NBA does say it has 120 potential investorsincluding football clubs and basketball clubs, which have a very serious interest in this tournament. They have received very significant declarations of intent from 20 basketball clubs, some of which have signed for Euroleagueand have specific offers for projects supported by budgets between 500 and 1 billion and some over 1,000. They do not have names yet, something that is penalizing because our mental scheme refers to a club, but this does not mean that they are smoke proposals or non-existent. We need to go further and specify (June will be a key month). And everything that everyone says may not be absolutely true, but who doesn’t bluff in this colossal game of cards?
Florentino Pérez, president of Real Madrid, and Sergio Rodríguez, director of the section.
The master key
It is obvious that Real Madrid is the master key. The accession of the not long ago reviled ASVEL and the elegant signature of the Fenerbahce (just before the Final Four lest… and without disregarding the future) has left the white club in a position reminiscent of that of the Super League with European football and the Champions League. But neither should we underestimate his loneliness (he always walked alone in his greatness and his misery) nor his ability to carry himself nor that agreements are being signed with the Euroleague while asking how they could be broken. “I want to belong to this club, but I am aware of what is being set up in another one next door.” The clauses of 10 million are ridiculous in the budgets that are managed and some messages are decidedly ambiguous (“I want to be in the best competition” applies for today, the Euroleague, but also for tomorrow, the new NBA-FIBA tournament).
There are also contexts. He Barça In the middle of the electoral campaign he was not going to associate with Madrid… That would have penalized Laporta. He Panathinaikos It has a president, let’s say special, but at the moment he can, he will not be where the president appears. Olympiacos. Apparently, the white club is not making any moves knowing that they will be waiting for them wherever they decide to play. You wouldn’t have to make a large outlay for a hypothetical change. The social cost is assumed in the section and pedagogy will be needed to explain it. Madrid meets all the requirements demanded by the NBA: great European city with a powerful market, great club brand (number 1 in the world) and extraordinary social mass. It is obvious that to start a business you will have to invest and then wait for the return it gives. ¿Isn’t it an annual investment for Euroleague clubs to lose 20 or 30 million each year? The decision in Madrid is outlined barring any turn of events. And he knows that the current delay exposes him to losing many of the privileges he has by giving up Euroleague A License. Nor does he rule out signing for the club competition to avoid the year (or two) of transition in the BCL and then begin his journey in the NBA-FIBA tournament when it starts, paying the penalty. It is a path that many can follow…
Brizuela’s layup during a Dubai Básketball-Barça match at the Coca Cola Arena.
3 billion start
The depth of the competition will be whatever the NBA wants, which does not aspire to make profits in its first years (WNBA style). It will reinvest them in the competition, clubs and tournament ecosystem. It will be the NBA, which will initially contribute 3,000 million, who will decide in principle who is there and who is not. As the Euroleague thought at the time that the Dubai Basketball He jumped onto the field. Basketball, an ancient sport from the 19th century, has many custodians and purists but here it is not about franchise names or tradition or black and white photos. Naples It is not that he has much experience (a pixel in the gigantic European historical landscape) and could play the Euroleaguejust like the Zenith in his day or the Monaco, already consolidated until its bankruptcy. It’s all about perspective.
Today It is already normal for a Middle Eastern club to play in the Euroleague overnight. He has a good project and signs great players. He took Musa away from Madrid. Just got hold of Xavi Pascual taking it out of himself Barça. When a franchise based in Manchester (an example) signs a player of the size of Tavaresthen perhaps the fans will take it less as a joke that they are called Lions (another example) or that they play in that NBA-FIBA tournament, which, by the way, lacks a name and is not a minor matter. That is to say, basketball belongs, as always, to the players and now the desire is for it to be one of the great sustainable business models, whatever they are called, whatever they are called. football clubs, basketball clubs or new projects in cities where basketball does not exist. Then on the field the most powerful, economically and in their management capacity, will have the best players and the fans will decide what experience they want to enjoy.
Chus Bueno, in an interview in the MARCA editorial office.
Fusion?
The dynamization of the Euroleague with the arrival of Chus Bueno It is outstanding. The waste time of Motiejunas was left behind. It has given new impetus to the competition and promises, with great ability to transmit it, great economic dividendssomething new in the history of the competition. He knows the NBA very well because he worked on its structure at the highest level, and seemed like a fundamental figure for a hypothetical merger. In the NBA they also know what it’s like. There will be no big surprises in the operation of each one. There is a small problem. The clubs that most strongly support the new CEO, Olympiacos, Zalgiris, Baskoniaamong others, are out of the new NBA tournament for one reason or another. It is, therefore, difficult for a single tournament to flourish with the best of both worlds. The Euroleaguewho has considered a change of competition – has doubts about Monaco and he doesn’t know if he can count on the Eurocup champion, the Bourg-feels ahead in the race and very strong today because it has signed 12 of its 13 permanent members, exit clauses aside. They have left Madrid. NBA and FIBAwithout specific announcements of accessions, are simultaneously working on a new model while waiting for the white club. The match is still being played in this Star Wars.
