Q: About the possible relationship with Dubai
Motiejunas: Dubai, we just read that they're going to play ABA League next season. We've been in touch, we are in touch, but everything is currently on hold. Because like Dejan mentioned, we're looking for investors, we're trying to make our own way of defining the future for the league with licenses, with investors and so on. It's more or less our issue as a league, so we continue to talk to them. We really value Mr Abdullah Al-Naboodah, who came with the proposal and the people around him. There's no certainty now for next season, but for sure we want to keep talking and analyzing this opportunity.
Q: What’s next to intrigue the fans?
Bodiroga: Like we mentioned before, I think that this Play-In brings something. What we have is positive feedback also from the clubs, fans and I think for the next years we will not change, we will not do something new. I think that in the next 3-4 years we will continue to stay with this Play-In. But we are also looking to maybe introduce in the future or we expand maybe some other competition. We will talk about this then. For the moment we will keep this, for the next seasons.
Q: About the viewership in the USA on ESPN
Alex Ferrer: We started last season with the playoffs very late. They have been broadcasting all the games this season as well. The numbers will come at the end of the season, so we still don’t have. We know it's been working better and better as the season progressed and people have noticed that the EuroLeague was there. We have one more year with ESPN, but still there's a lot more we have to do. ESPN is a great brand and it's great to have our games there. They have a huge basketball fan base, but there's a lot of work we have to do to promote the games and to promote our stories there beyond just having the games live on ESPN, where there's another thousand live events every week. We are figuring out what we can do in that regard to better promote that and lead people to watch. There's many more and more people watching, not only ESPN, but all the content that we produce around these games. You know that many times some of the content that has gone out has become viral and a lot of people from the States, more players are watching and it caught the attention of a lot of people. We just need to amplify that and make sure we accelerate that growth.
Q: About potential merger between EuroCup and BCL
Motiejunas: This is also on the table with FIBA. I don't see a quick solution. I'm not saying we want to take a long time to do it, but the thing that we agree is it's too many competitions, international competitions. That's what we agree on. How do we get them to work together? This is the next step. Honestly, I don't believe it will be solved in the next meeting that we have that I mentioned to you, but it's work in progress and it's, like I said, it's on the table of discussions.
Q: About hosting a Final Four in Athens
Motiejunas: We're really happy because finally the clubs have the arena so it's a huge boost. We really believed when I said about the investors that we could send part of the money to make this upgrade much faster. There were no talks but maybe after you post something. We can get in touch with the government and approach and have a discussion. Happy to do it, lovely place would love to move the Final Four there.
Q: About finance reality of EuroLeague clubs
Motiejunas: It's a good question. We're working on it and when I say working on it, we already have a full project presented to the clubs and discussed with the clubs. As you know, we had implemented the percentage that the owners are allowed to put in, let's put it this way, and the percentage is going down. So this is still in progress and we are still monetizing on it and controlling it. But the second step is that it's not only the top clubs have to go down and will have a luxury tax like let's say copy NBA. It will not be called luxury tax, but if you overspend you will have to pay out a compensation to the other clubs. So that's one and the other with the bottom clubs also have to invest more. So this is this is the project we are working on and we put everything on hold because we want to discuss this with investors. But I would say it's difficult to imagine that we will start to implement and approve it this year. But for next year, season 2025-26, I would like to push the go button that we start following it. Because clearly our goal is the same. We don't want to risk. We love that the owners are so passionate and they continue to invest, but we want these brands to continue even if they are tired of investing themselves. Sustainability is the future of the league for sure.
Q: Is an All-Star game being considered?
Motiejunas: Yeah, an All-Star game, a cup, pre-season tournaments, maybe a regular season game somewhere not in the European market. All these are on the table. And we're doing the calculations. Again, I'm not a big fan of the all-star games, but if it helps the fans, if it helps the product, we for sure would analyze and do it.
Q: Why do you think Spanish fans fill arenas in Spain, but don’t come to the Final Four?
Bodiroga: It's a good question. From what I've seen in recent years, I think there is a very good atmosphere in pavilions in Madrid and Barcelona. But I think that in the last few years more and more fans have come from Spain. And we believe that we will see them in the future as well. So I think that it is also a process. And I think that in the future we will be able to see more fans. But I think that this number has grown a lot compared to the last years.
Q: About a license for Virtus Bologna
Motiejunas: We should look at it as short term and long term. So as mentioned short term, we have to decide. We have five clubs and we have Paris, who want to kick out one of the clubs. And this is for one year. After that, of course, we are looking at, like I explained, maybe a longer wildcard. We are not analyzing now to have more fixed places, more shareholders. The model of three-to-five year wildcards is more appropriate to monetize and to keep us growing. This is the idea that we are sharing with the clubs. And regarding Virtus, we had a meeting, I saw the full project of the arena. Amazing what they're trying to do. Great ownership behind, great people running the club. So it's really, it's proving to be a EuroLeague level club and they deserve a chance to continue. Saying that, so do the other four clubs that I mentioned.
Q: About reducing the number of EuroLeague games to improve the product
Motiejunas: We need to get a beer and talk about it. It's quite a long discussion. Listen, I ran the club for almost 16 years. If you ask me, it's so easy to sell out the arena for EuroLeague games. It's so difficult to sell out the arena for domestic league games. So the question is, how do we get the fans to enjoy the best basketball? EuroLeague is the number two league of basketball in the world. Our goal is not to make less games. Our goal is to make more games because that's where the best product is. That's where the fans come to see and that's why the clubs are doing it. So I cannot address domestic leagues. I cannot address windows because this is something that we are trying to solve. But as a league, we are the best product. I'm saying it so confidently because I know we are the best product in Europe and there's no way we're going to back down and say we want less games. This is not economically good for the clubs, like I said, for the ticket sales, for the sponsorships and not good for us as a league. We want to play more. We want to have more competitions.
Q: Do you know the EuroLeague teams for next year?
Motiejunas: No. We decided that, again, as always, beginning of July, we will approve. We are meeting all the clubs. And it's clear. It's two Serbian, Virtus, Valencia, ALBA. Sadly, somebody will have to go if Paris comes in, when Paris comes in. So it's easy as that. You all know this. There's no decision. We're getting the information. We're talking to all the clubs. I can say clearly it's sad that we have to take this decision because all the teams are worthy to play in EuroLeague, but Paris is something that we always wanted and they're ready and they earned the chance, so it is what it is and it will be a hard decision for the clubs to make because this is what we will present and they will have to vote.
Q: About encouraging clubs to play younger players more
Motiejunas: These are the million dollar questions. I wish I would have the answer. Easy would be if they stop paying in the NBA, stop paying in NCAA, lower the salaries in Japan. Australia would take a timeout and then everybody stays and we’re happy. I don't know if it's possible, but I see this direction. Sorry, I cannot answer in a more smart way. It's quite a problem. I know everybody is trying to solve, but I don't have a magic recipe that would help.
Q: About the report that Paris is struggling to raise the minimum budget for the EuroLeague
Motiejunas: We're in talks with David Kahn, trying to help discussing everything
Alex Ferrer: The minimum budget is 7 million. That applies to all clubs.
Q: Why aren’t more young players getting minutes with big clubs?
Bodiroga: Thank you for remembering these moments. Yes, I was, in that time, 92, it was my first season in Italian championship, it was very strong and also I, in that time, played Korac Cup. And, yeah, in that time I had as the coach Bogdan Tanjevic, who was also a great coach, but who always had courage to give to young players and to believe in young players. In the recent years, I saw also example, maybe because of some coaches and some clubs, because of pressure, they don't have courage to put young players and to give them more minutes in the court. Also we have example of Doncic, how Madrid and Pablo Lasso did with him and Doncic made great with 18 years. And after he got to the NBA; he has an amazing career.
I think that if somebody has talent and quality, I think they need a coach and a club that can support this idea. And for sure, I think this will also be a benefit for the clubs, because I think also fans want to see young players and quality players. We have, you know, this example, as I mentioned, that Doncic, and I think sometimes before we had more courage in Europe to put young players, and I think that now, you know, I think that we have a lot of quality in Europe and they need and deserve the minutes in the court.
