EXCLUSIVE: A new competition for European basketball

The European basketball scene could be about to change – for better or worse – with the latest addition to the market; the Basketball Champions League.

The introduction of the tournament has led to fierce divisions in European basketball. For many years, EuroLeague was basketball’s premier club tournament, a privately owned venture.

The Basketball Champions League is backed – with a 50% stake – by the world governing body, FIBA.

Now they are going head to head, on and off the court.

A court case saw FIBA Europe take on Euroleague send a warning to national teams to take responsibility in their territory and to act against the illegal practices of ECA.

Euroleague in the end backed down in court, but the issue is still being resolved, with potential bans for Euroleague teams across Europe under discussion.

The FIBA backed Basketball Champions League will tip off with the legalities still on-going. Their CEO Patrick Comninos admits the two must learn to live together.

He said: “The Euroleague issues is a fact of life. We are trying to find a proper position for our competition and a working relationship with the other competitions. Obviously the entire basketball community benefits from this.”

“We have to be realistic; a saturated market is not an ideal scenario. There are perhaps too many basketball properties in the market, we have to work towards the big picture which is to find the right structure to look to the long-term and give the fan an enjoyable product.”

With the league entering its inaugural season – having only been conceived less than 2 years ago, Comninos explains the process has been difficult but they’ve arrived at a place where they are happy with the product on offer.

He continued: “To be fair, it is a very challenging process. Obviously, a lot of this is taking place in close proximity to the season – which doesn’t help. We are starting soon, so we are in the process of development – it’s a bit of a start-up approach – it is a challenge.

“We know that the basketball environment in Europe is challenging itself – due to the amount of competitions that are coexisting – finding a proper niche in the market is a challenge. We are a true pan-Europe competition. We have more than 31 teams and 18 national champions competing, we feel we can position the basketball Champions League in the position it deserves.”

The leader in club basketball competition is by far and away the NBA, which has set the standard and continues to break boundaries in terms of its global games and audience.

Comninos, while hopeful of emulating some of their success, believes the American league will always be the leader in the field.

“I think right now we’re a long way from the NBA. They are a prime example of how a good league operates in terms of organisation, commercial and global appeal. I still believe through the promotion of players, this gap will not be bridged but links will be made.”

The Basketball Champions League, a joint venture between FIBA and participating European leagues, is hoping to be an all-inclusive league and help develop basketball for both the national league competitions across Europe.

Comninos continued: “We expect to learn as the process is going, but we want to produce a good competition from the start. We want the clubs to feel comfortable, that everything is taken care of. We need to start from the go at a high standard but we know that matchday-to –matchday we will need to improve as the market gets to know us.”

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