By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
BKT EuroCup is expected to expand to 32 teams, FIBA Europe Cup is also expanding, the Basketball Champions League will have a season that will also serve as qualifiers for the NBA project in Europe, and EuroLeague is on the verge of expansion with 17 clubs and funds interested in becoming shareholders or franchises.
This means that at least in theory, Europe might have five continental competitions and two rival ecosystems in the 2027-28 season.
Taking a step back, this is too much, and ultimately, it hurts meritocracy, which is the foundation of sports.
“I love in general that when you win a tournament, a league, a competition, you get a prize“, said Mindaugas Kuzminskas during the recent Basketball Champions League Final Four.
“I remember when the champions of the countries qualified for the Euroleague. Sometimes a team is surprisingly qualified, but of course, the sporting merit should be there without any doubt”, he added as the Basketball Champions League right now is the biggest meritocracy defender in Europe.
That’s why Gran Canaria, a former EuroCup champion that competed in the BCL this season, will not play in the Basketball Champions League next year due to their poor performance in the Spanish Liga Endesa, where they ended up being relegated.
“Fragmentation is bad”, said from his own side the newly appointed EuroLeague CEO Chus Bueno in the recent EuroLeague Final Four in Athens, partly stating the obvious and also highlighting what every investor connected to European basketball says.
However, the problem remains, and unless all sides involved reach an understanding, it might be difficult for things to change.
Bourg officially announced that, despite having the right to compete in the EuroLeague, they decided that, in their case, financially, it doesn’t make sense to try it.
It has to be noted that, at least on paper, the NBA plan is designed to create a more cohesive pyramid between domestic leagues and continental competitions, and if you qualify to play in the top level, like Bourg, at least $8M are guaranteed to each participant, making the decision a no-brainer.
As NBA and FIBA executives have consistently said, every club should have the right to reach the top European competition, and then, if you win, you are in. It shouldn’t be a financial choice, and that’s what everyone wants, including the EuroLeague management.
And if you are in, you can compete right away, having a solid financial guarantee, which, in the cases of teams like Bourg, is unprecedented.
Coming back to Gran Canaria, they also didn’t compete in the EuroLeague back in 2023, despite having the chance to do so as EuroCup winners, because the financial numbers were against them.
So the end goal of everyone involved in basketball in Europe should ultimately be a pyramid that connects all levels – a plan also discussed by former CEO Jordi Bertomeu back in 2014 with no results – and has also the financial ability to reward those who achieve great results on the court, making it the move to the next level a reward and not an unwanted trouble.
And for this to happen, everyone should be on the same page.
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