The recent Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four not only turned Belgrade into the epicenter of world basketball for a weekend of elite competition and passionate crowds, but the city also became a place of higher learning from May 17 to 20. The Serbian capital in general and Stark Arena, in particular, served as classrooms for the students of the Sports Business MBA by the Euroleague Basketball Institute, who came to Belgrade for their third of four in-person learning sessions in the program. The students had an opportunity to listen to a variety of lectures from 11 high-profile industry leaders from the world of sports business while getting a behind-the-scenes look at the organization of an event on the great scale of the Final Four.

Euroleague Basketball and Vytautas Magnus University combined their resources to bring an A-list of speakers to Belgrade for lectures to the MBA students. The lecturers included industry leaders Tadd Reilly, Vice President, Fruit of the Loom/Spalding International; Dawn Smyth, Director, Domestic Development, Canada Basketball; Markus Fest, Director Special & Corporate Events, AEG Europe; Miroslaw Krogulec, Director, Organisational Development Sport, Special Olympics; Davor Ristovic, General Manager, Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade; Xavier Bidault, Commercial Director, Basketball, IMG Media; Ibrahim Erkan, Director of Operations, Turkish Basketball Federation; Daniel Geey, Partner, Sheridans; Mustafa Erogut, Executive Director, Istanbul Basaksehir FC; Cem Karamuersel, Accounting Director EMEA, Nike; and Jordi Balsells, Vice President, Desigual.

In addition to privileged access to sports industry executives, the students got a first-hand look at many Final Four ancillary events, such as the Opening Press Conference at Kalemegdan Fortress, which was also the scene of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague FanZone, for which they were given a guided tour to understand the synergy between Euroleague Basketball, sponsors and fans. In order to prepare for their Master theses, the students also had a full day of "battle sessions" with their module leaders from the Vytautas Magnus University. Finally, they were able to attend an alumni dinner to meet previous graduates from EB Institute masters.

"I had the privilege to officiate at the Madrid Final Four in 2008 and have been present as a spectator at many others Final Fours, but after my experience of 19 years in the EuroLeague as a referee, to be in the Belgrade as a student of the Sports Business MBA was very special, without any question," student Spiros Gkontas said. "I had the chance to see all the details of the preparation and the execution of such a unique event and the hard work from hundreds of people for the success of it. As a student of the Sports Business MBA, I discovered another world behind the scenes that is also interesting and impressive. We met sports professionals from different sectors who shared with us their unique experiences. Belgrade is a fantastic basketball city; the hospitality was excellent; and I feel blessed I had the chance to live it. This is the real basketball."

The Sports Business MBA sessions held over four days in Belgrade made up the third of four on-site phases in the 13-month course, which is coordinated by Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas. The students had previously met in Barcelona in October 2017 at Euroleague Basketball headquarters for five days of focus on a transfer of knowledge from Euroleague Basketball senior management. The students also met in January in Kaunas for a prolonged academic session. After their experience at the Final Four in Belgrade, the students will return to Kaunas in November for their fourth and final on-site session to present the Sports Business MBA students final projects.

"The Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four in Belgrade was all about business insights and felt more like the beginning of a finish line for us," student Juste Ivaskeviciute said. "Market leaders gave us a very wide perspective on the business area, from the value perception of raising young players to sports events management and motivational speeches. Meeting alumni of the program was more like a family meeting in which sharing experiences and expectations was a priceless exchange of information. The dedicated professors made the first steps toward the MBA thesis topic so easy and inspiring that now there are even more options to choose from than before the session!"

Final Four served as classroom for Sports Business MBA students

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The 2017-18 class of the Sports Business MBA by EB Institute came together last week for their second in-person session in Kaunas, Lithuania. The five-day agenda was split into three days dedicated to lectures from academic and Lithuanian industry leaders, which were held at Vytautas Magnus University (VMU), and two days of lectures and site inspections from Zalgiris Kaunas and Zalgirio Arena.

In addition to presentations from the six module leaders, students heard from industry leaders including KPMG Senior Manager Edvinas Zukauskas, Svyturio Brand Manager Ieva Raciene and Lithuanian Basketball Federation Secretary General Mindaugas Spokas. Zalgiris Kaunas and Zalgirio Arena senior management shared their expertise in communications, ticketing, arena management, basketball operations, security, event management, finance and governance.

"It was a unique experience to be in Lithuania, the land of basketball,” said Turkish national and Canada resident Omer Seymen. “It was great to be able to meet with Zalgiris Kaunas representatives, learn from their experience and visit one of the most special venues in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague both for a live game as well as studying the building from top to bottom. This second session gave us a chance to get together with our classmates once again, improving our group dynamics even further. It was also a great opportunity to visit VMU, meet with the professors in person and be able to spend quality time with them."

Spanish student Javier Pesquera, who currently resides in Sweden, also took away valuable knowledge and experience from his time in Kaunas. “Honestly, even though I had high expectations for the Sports Business MBA's second session, the access that we had to an elite club like Zalgiris Kaunas really surprised me, not only due to the level of hospitality they showed us, but how they explained their business at all levels. When it came to the academic lecturers they went above and beyond their call of duty, staying late with us after the schedule and showing us around the campus and city with a level of implication rarely shown by any professor in my previous studies."

In the current class, students from cities as diverse as Toronto, Lagos, Madrid, Bucharest, Athens and Istanbul have been using in-person sessions combined with an e-learning platform. The January 15 to 19, 2018, meeting was the second of four in-person sessions the students will attend during the course. After their initial gathering at Euroleague Basketball headquarters in Barcelona, Spain, the students will next meet in person at the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four in Belgrade, Serbia, this May for lectures from global industry leaders at the third session of the Sports Business MBA, which will further shape their insights in the sports business. The fourth and final session back in Kaunas will take place in October, with the viva and diploma ceremony.

For more information please visit www.euroleague.net/ebinstitute

Sports Business MBA by EB Institute holds second session

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This week has marked the opening session of the new 2017-18 Sports Business MBA by Euroleague Basketball Institute. The first of four sessions in the 13-month-long course took place at Euroleague Basketball headquarters in Barcelona from Monday, September 18 through Friday, September 22, 2017. Students of nine different nationalities – from Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Lebanon, Lithuania, Nigeria, Romania, Spain and Turkey – are enrolled in the course.

This year Euroleague Basketball Institute is venturing in a new direction for the course by collaborating with Vytautas Magnus University in Lithuania on a Sports Business MBA program. Previously, a Master in Sports Management and Marketing had been co-organised with Ca Foscari University in Italy for the past 10 years. Among the current students in the class are Zalgiris Kaunas Marketing Director Juste Ivaskeviciute, Euroleague Basketball Official Spiros Gkontas, Nigerian basketball team President Daniel Ngerem of Lagos Warriors, and Steaua Bucharest General Manager Ionut Georgescu.

The opening session began with an introduction by Rita Bendaraviciene, Vytautas Magnus University‘s Dean of the Faculty of Economics. Several of the finest Vytautas Magnus University academic professors were present in the first session, namely Vilija Biciunaite, Ausra Pazeraite and Renata Legenzova, to introduce the first three modules of Sports Business, Sports Marketing and Sports Communication. This was followed by a roundtable discussion with Jordi Bertomeu, Euroleague Basketball President and CEO.

The transfer of knowledge from Euroleague Basketball senior management to students took place over the following four days. Chief Operations Officer Eduard J. Scott, Chief Business Officer Roser Queralto, Global Marketing Partnerships & Licensing Director Jose Luis Rosa-Medina, Marketing & Communications Director Alex Ferrer, in addition to other colleagues, presented the company’s inner workings in Basketball Operations, Marketing and Communications, Digital, Brand & Sports Marketing, Legal, Global Expansion, Financial Fair Play, Events, Communications, Ticketing and Sponsorship.

“As a basketball fan and, moreover, as a hardcore Euroleague Basketball fan, learning from the management of Euroleague Basketball about the business was incredibly amazing,” student Begum Unal said. “We have discussed the current operations and the future of European basketball. It was a challenging week working in a highly international group with classmates living on four different continents and everyone has a different opinion on the same topic. I wish that we could spend a longer time in Barcelona as the discussions we had were enlightening and deepened my point of view in many aspects."

Following this opening week the class will continue their distance learning with academic and professional staff until they meet for the second session in Kaunas, Lithuania, in January. Vytautas Magnus University staff will host the students on their campus and there will be a full day spent at Zalgirio Arena, where the class will go in-depth with arena staff and Zalgiris Kaunas employees. The third session will be in May in Belgrade, Serbia, during the 2018 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four. Industry leaders will present to the students in parallel with behind-the-scenes access to the main event at Kombank Arena. The closing session brings the class back to Kaunas in October 2018, where students will defend their MBA theses during a Viva and celebrate their graduation ceremony in a basketball heartland.

“Working in the Romanian basketball business, applying for the Sports Business MBA was the obvious choice for me," student Catalin Naziru said. "Euroleague Basketball promotes high standards in sports business. The experience at their headquarters was truly amazing, starting from hospitality, knowledge, networking and information delivered by the professionals. I'm proud to be one of the first people who will study this MBA and to be able to apply this knowledge.”

First session tips off new Sports Business MBA

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The Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four is an annual high point for students of the Euroleague Basketball Institute Master in Sports Management & Marketing and the 2017 event in Istanbul provided these students the perfect opportunity to witness theory and practice implemented at one of the continent’s premier sporting events. The busy schedule for the students in Istanbul allowed them to watch the EuroLeague games up close, see what goes into organizing a world-class event and learn from industry leaders in specially-organized lectures.

Much of their time together was spent at Sinan Erdem Dome, where a range of lecturers discussed topics including branding, advertising, sponsorship, digital analytics, media and much more. Among the speakers were Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade Marketing Director Filip Sunturlic; baresquare Managing Director Georgios Grigoriadis; Director of Organisational Development Sport at Special Olympics, Miroslaw Krogulec; Sport24.gr Editor in Chief, Stefanos Triantafyllos; Nike Accounting Director Cem Karamuersel; ACB President Francisco Roca; Managementberatung und Training owner Thomas Braumann; Desigual Vice President Jordi Balsells; Director of Team & Federation Relations at ESL Gaming, Jan Pommer; and IMG Media Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales, Adam Kelly.

The students also went to the Opening Press Conference at Ciragan Palace, visited the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague FanZone at Marmara Forum and attended the International Symposium on Basketball Science at Hilton Bomonti Hotel & Convention Center, where they could choose from lectures on topics related to business or health.

Students from as far away as the United States came for the third in-person meeting of the year-long program in conjunction with Ca'Foscari University of Venice, which in July will be the site where the students present their final projects and complete the course with a graduation ceremony. Among them was Mateja Skornik of Slovenia, who thoroughly enjoyed her time at the Final Four.

“We went to bed every day smarter. We empowered our knowledge. It was a different experience. We were basically there, at the event, behind the scenes, so we gained some know-how and insights to the Final Four behind the scenes,” Skornik said. Beyond the academic side, she also stressed the social benefits of the class coming together at the Final Four. “For me the most important part was the friends I made and the contacts I established networking.”

Final Four experience benefits EBI Masters students

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Euroleague Basketball and Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) today announced the launch of the Sports Business MBA by EB Institute during a press conference held on the VMU campus in Kaunas, Lithuania. The new partnership comes 10 years after the initial creation of the Euroleague Basketball Master in Sports Marketing and Communication.

The announcement was made by Euroleague Basketball President and CEO Jordi Bertomeu, together with VMU Rector Professor Juozas Augutis. Euroleague Basketball and VMU have created the MBA to enhance educational opportunities for existing and would-be professionals in sports business to learn directly from industry and academic experts.

The new programme builds on EB Institute's 10-year-old EBI Master in Sports Management and Marketing, which has seen 220 students from 38 countries follow the course co-organised with the Ca’ Foscari University in Venice, Italy. The MBA will focus on modern approaches to sports business, consisting of six modules over three academic semesters, including internship and group work opportunities, ending with a final master thesis.

The MBA continues the educational tradition that Euroleague Basketball began with its founding in 2000. The training and improvement of professionals working in clubs and domestic leagues, a priority since day one, has been accomplished by organising a multitude of clinics, workshops, summits, seminars, working groups and conferences. These together with academic offerings have always been dedicated to the same goal: training new professionals whilst elevating the prospects of those already working in the sports industry. Alumni in the first decade of the EBI Master have become professionals in a broad range of sporting companies, organisations and endeavours, including clubs, domestic leagues, Euroleague Basketball, FIBA, national federations, adidas, Nike, Microsoft, SAP, Vodafone, media outlets and marketing agencies.

"This new partnership is a major step forward in a project launched 10 years ago, whose next level will continue with Vytautas Magnus University. This one of many ways in which Euroleague Basketball gives back and reinvests in the basketball community," Mr. Bertomeu said. "I wish to thank Professor Augutis and all his colleagues at Vytautas Magnus University for their willingness to partner with Euroleague Basketball; Zalgiris Kaunas for their support and contribution to this project; as well as the city of Kaunas, where basketball is always of capital importance."

The Vytautas Magnus University Faculty of Economics and Management professors who will oversee the study programme of the Sports Business MBA have received international recognition for their excellence. Students will obtain both systemic understanding and working knowledge of all major areas of contemporary sports business and management: marketing, finance, media and communication, law, strategy and economics.

"VMU has always been a globally focused university and we are very glad that this has been recognised and appreciated by Euroleague Basketball, Europe’s top-level basketball competition organiser. For the last two years, the VMU Faculty of Economics and Management has been ranked among the 700 best business schools in the world. VMU is one of the leading Baltic universities in the field of internationality," Professor Augutis said.

VMU study programmes prepare specialists who are equipped with interdisciplinary knowledge and abilities, analytical and critical thinking, and capability to work in the international market, rather than narrowly specialised graduates who would only meet the short-term demands of today. Being a liberal arts university it provides an interdisciplinary education as well as competences that are important in the dynamic labour market.

The first edition of the MBA will last for 14 months, commencing in September 2017 and graduating in October 2018. Students completing the course will achieve 90 ECTS (European Credit Transfer System). The blended learning format will include four-week long in-person sessions on VMU's campus in Kaunas; Euroleague Basketball headquarters in Barcelona, Spain; full, behind-the-scenes immersion at one of the largest sports events in the world, the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four in Belgrade, Serbia; before students return to the VMU campus to defend their final master thesis including Viva. The in-person sessions are combined with an e-learning platform that offers students maximum flexibility and sustained interaction with their professors.

Throughout their MBA training, students will hear from both academic and industry experts, with the latter of these representing companies and organisations at the forefront of the sports industry. Examples from the EBI Master in the past have included executives from adidas, Spalding, ESPN, IMG, NBA, New Era, Nike, Special Olympics, Turkish Airlines, Twitter and AEG, to name a few. The MBA will also feature guest academic teachers from elite European institutions to be announced soon. Pre-enrolment is scheduled to commence on April 12, 2017, when more information will be made available on www.euroleague.net

Sports Business MBA by EB Institute launched

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