Euroleague Basketball and Visa Celebrate Multi-Year Partnership with Special Event in Athens
Euroleague Basketball and Visa, a global leader in digital payments, celebrated their landmark multi-year partnership, first announced on November 19, with a special presentation event held on Tuesday in Athens, Greece. The agreement makes VISA the official payment partner of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and the BKT EuroCup, the two premier men’s basketball competitions in Europe, and solidifies a collaboration aimed at enhancing fan experiences and delivering exclusive benefits to basketball enthusiasts over the next three years.
The event, hosted by Greek actor George Lentzas, featured a distinguished lineup of speakers, including David Rivers, former Olympiacos Piraeus player and Euroleague Basketball Ambassador; Fragiskos Alvertis, former Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens player; Guy Martin, Head of Sponsorships at Visa Europe; Sevi Vassileva, General Manager of Visa for Greece, Malta, Cyprus, and Israel; and Gawain Davies, Chief Commercial Officer of Euroleague Basketball. Together, they shared insights into the partnership and its plans for the future.
"I think it’s appropriate we are here today launching this partnership in Athens, the home of the current EuroLeague champions," said Gawain Davies. "I’m especially delighted to be here today launching this groundbreaking partnership for the Euroleague. We look forward to working with you over the next three years. Visa is a fantastic company. In fact, it’s our first-ever payment partner at the Euroleague. In our 25-year history, we’ve never had a partner in this category, and we couldn’t be starting with a better partner. We’re very excited to really work and deliver great value to all the Visa team and customers over the next three years."
"I’m really, really proud to be joining the Euroleague family, and for Euroleague to be joining the Visa family," commented Guy Martin. "We have a very proud history of sponsorships across 35 years. We are really pleased to have Euroleague join the family and we know much it means to this market. We do this for a number of reasons: we do this because we love working with our clients and we understand the power of sponsorships. We also understand the power of what we need to do with our fans and customers. The Euroleague ticks all of those boxes. We’re really proud of working with our partner, the Euroleague, not just on the Euroleague itself but also on the legacy that we can leave with this sponsorship property. We look forward to getting started."
Attendees were also briefed on a variety of upcoming activations. Visa cardholders will enjoy exclusive benefits, such as priority access to pre-sale tickets for the Final Four and opportunities to participate in contests to win premium Final Four packages, among other incentives.
Sevi Vassileva, General Manager of Visa for Greece, Malta, Cyprus and Israel, said that basketball holds a special place in the hearts of Greeks and manages, in a unique way, to move and unite them, adding that sport is an extremely important component of European culture, while basketball athletes are a source of inspiration. "From women's football to the Olympic Games and Formula 1 and now the premier basketball tournaments, Visa connects fans worldwide and makes payments more seamless and secure. These partnerships are for us more than just a branding opportunity – they are an ideal field to promote something deeper and more meaningful: the value of sport."
This partnership reinforces Visa’s commitment to fostering connections through sports and aligns with Euroleague Basketball’s dedication to bringing fans closer to its growing global audience.
