A brief history of European basketball top competition format
Euroleague is a private league owned by the clubs
EUROPEAN CLUB BASKETBALL PRE-2000
Football & L’Equipe
- Origins in Association Football- Gabriel Hanot, L’Equipe, France
- 1954 - friendly - England’s Wolves vs. Hungary’s Honved
- 1957 European Championship in Bulgaria
- FIBA Secretary General William Jones - commission
- L’Equipe Trophy
- 1957-58 European Cup for Men’s Champion Clubs
FIBA years: 1957-58 to 1999-2000
- FIBA headquartered in Rome, Italy (1932-40), Bern, Switzerland (1940-56), Munich, Germany (1956-2002), Geneva/Mies, Switzerland (2002-14)
- Last edition 1999-2000, Panathinaikos Athens champions in Thessaloniki, Greece
- Summer 2000, ULEB created “new” Euroleague
- Own management & exploitation of commercial rights
- 2002 FIBA Europe created
EUROLEAGUE COMPETITION SYSTEM
Euroleague / Suproleague: 2000-01
- For one season, two parallel competitions
- SuproLeague (FIBA): Maccabi Tel Aviv, Panathinaikos Athens, CSKA Moscow, Efes Pilsen Istanbul
- Euroleague: Virtus Bologna, Tau Ceramica Vitoria, Olympiacos Piraeus, Real Madrid
- Competition System based upon NBA model
- 24 teams played a 10 Game Home and Away Regular Season
- 3 Game Series Last 16, 3 Game Series Last 8, 5 Game Series Last 4, 5 Game Series Playoff Finals
Transition season: 2001-02
- In order to accommodate pre-existing commitments with Euroleague teams and SuproLeague teams - 32 teams
- 14 Game Regular Season -> 6 Game Top 16
- 50% principle applied
- 6 weeks of do or die basketball
- 4 group leaders qualified directly for the 2002 Final Four in Bologna, Italy
Competition system V1: 2002-04
- Regular Season 3 Groups of 8 14 Games (1st-4th place teams in each group + 2 best 5th place teams)
- Top 16 4 Groups of 4 6 Games (1st place team in each group)
- Final Four Single Game 2 Games
Competition system V2: 2004-08
- Regular Season 3 Groups of 8 14 Games (1st-4th place teams in each group + 2 best 5th place teams)
- Top 16 4 Groups of 4 (1st & 2nd place team in each group) 6 Games
- Playoffs 3 Game Series (Winner) 2-3 Games
- Final Four Single Game 2 Games
Competition system V3: 2008-09
- Regular Season 4 Groups of 6 (1st-4th place teams in each group) 10 Games
- Top 16 4 Groups of 4 (1st & 2nd place team in each group) 6 Games
- Playoffs 5 Game Series (Winner) 3-5 Games
- Final Four Single Game 2 Games
Competition system V4: 2009-12
- Qualifying Rounds 2 Game Series (Winner(s)) Up to 6 Games
- Regular Season 4 Groups of 6 (1st-4th place teams in each group) 10 Games
- Top 16 4 Groups of 4 (1st & 2nd place team in each group) 6 Games
- Playoffs 5 Game Series (Winner) 3-5 Games
- Final Four Single Game 2 Games
Competition system V5: 2012+
- Qualifying Rounds 8 Team Bracket (Winner) 3 Games
- Regular Season 4 Groups of 6 (1st-4th place teams in each group) 10 Games
- Top 16 2 Groups of 8 (1st & 2nd place team in each group) 14 Games
- Playoffs 5 Game Series (Winner) 3-5 Games
- Final Four Single Game 2 Games
Original Licensing System
Principles Behind Licensing System
- Historically domestic champions participate on annual basis
- Flaw: certain countries having stronger domestic leagues than others = more than one team participating in the Euroleague
- Next step: identify best performing clubs on-court, help them develop and grow on and off the court with multi-year licence
- Original 10 clubs awarded a 3-year “A” Licence from 2000-2003 were:
PRINCIPLES BEHIND LICENSING SYSTEM
“A” Licence minimum criteria:
- Elite Sports Results
- 10,000 Seater Arena
- 2x 4**** Hotels in same City
- International Airport less than 100km from Arena
- Bank Guarantee
- Comply with all Regulations including lack of involvement in other clubs
- Clubs holding long-term “A” Licence able to plan and promote without fear that one below average season in their domestic league could put the rest of their work in peril
PRINCIPLES BEHIND LICENSING SYSTEM
Possible reasons for loss of “A” Licence
- Finishing as the last “A” Licence team over three seasons
- Finishing in the bottom half of the Domestic Championship
- Failing to sell at least 8,000 tickets per Euroleague game
- Failing to comply with Euroleague Regulations
PRINCIPLES BEHIND LICENSING SYSTEM
Advantages of Stability
- Allows clubs to invest in their facility, given that most construction projects take more than one season to complete
- Season tickets campaign and fan loyalty can be developed over time
- Multi-year sponsors can be signed knowing their brand will receive pan-
European exposure
- Players can be signed to multi-year contracts
PRINCIPLES BEHIND LICENSING SYSTEM
- Clubs without “A” Licence able to qualify for Euroleague with one-year “B” or “C” Licence
- Benefit: guaranteed presence of important clubs and brands
- “B” Licences gained by Domestic Championship results
- “C” Licence gained by winning the Eurocup
CLUB RANKING
- Evaluation system among all clubs participating in Euroleague & Eurocup
- Three-year period
- 2 points for a win and 1 point for a tie or loss from the Regular Season
onwards
- 2 bonus points last 16
- 2 bonus points last 8
- 1 bonus point last 4
- 1 bonus point final
SUMMER 2009
2006-09
Euroleague Bylaws in place for 2006-09 seasons = rigid competition
• Fixed:
- Number of countries participating (13)
- Number of clubs per country
- Eurocup Champion only avenue for a new club or country to participate
- New proposal had to be formulated to remedy the situation
STRUCTURE
- Add a new Qualifying Rounds phase to the competition
- Assign to a maximum of 14 clubs a long-term licence upon the basis of their sports results in the Euroleague (Best European Clubs)
- Ensure that at least the Domestic Champions from 12 countries and the runner-up from 3 of these countries participate, if not more (Best European Leagues)
- Ensure the Eurocup Champion participates (Best Eurocup Club)
- Maximum of 5 teams per country
CURRENT LICENSING SYSTEM
“A”, “B”, “C” LICENCES
- 13 long-term “A” licences
- 10 one-year “B” licences; 1 one-year “B” licence coming from the Qualifying Rounds
- 1 one-year “C” licence assigned to the Eurocup Champion (or Euroleague Champion if necessary)
2013-14 “A” LICENCE CLUBS
- Anadolu Efes Istanbul
- CSKA Moscow
- EA7 Emporio Armani Milan
- FC Barcelona
- Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul
- Laboral Kutxa Vitoria
- Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv
- Montepaschi Siena
- Olympiacos Piraeus
- Panathinaikos Athens
- Real Madrid
- Unicaja Malaga
- Zalgiris Kaunas
2013-14 “B” LICENCE COUNTRY RANKING
# |
COUNTRY / LEAGUE |
(1xELCH) |
POSITION |
||
1 |
Spain |
CH |
2 |
Russia |
CH |
3 |
Italy |
CH |
4 |
Turkey |
CH |
5 |
Lithuania |
CH |
6 |
Greece |
CH |
7 |
France |
CH |
8 |
Germany |
CH |
9 |
Adriatic |
CH |
10 |
Poland |
CH |
11 |
Adriatic |
RU |
12 |
Spain |
RU |
13 |
Russia |
RU |
14 |
Italy |
RU |
# |
COUNTRY / LEAGUE |
(1xELCH) |
POSITION |
||
15 |
Turkey |
RU |
16 |
Lithuania |
RU |
17 |
Greece |
RU |
18 |
France |
RU |
19 |
Germany |
RU |
20 |
Adriatic |
N3 |
21 |
Belgium |
CH |
22 |
Czech Republic |
CH |
23 |
Ukraine |
CH |
24 |
Israel |
CH |
25 |
Bulgaria |
CH |
26 |
Netherlands |
CH |
27 |
Latvia |
CH |
28 |
Poland |
RU |
EUROPEAN COUNTRIES IN EUROLEAGUE COMPARISON
Prior to Summer 2009 changes
1.Croatia
2. France
3. Germany
4.Greece
5. Israel
6. Italy
7.Lithuania
8.Poland
9. Russia
10. Serbia
11. Slovenia
12. Spain
13. Turkey
Currently
1. Belarus
2. Belgium
3. Bosnia and Herzegovina
4. Croatia
5. Czech Republic
6. Estonia
7. France
8. FYROM
9. Germany
10. Greece
11. Hungary
12. Israel
13. Italy
14. Kazakhstan
15. Latvia
16. Lithuania
17. Montenegro
18. Netherlands
19. Poland
20. Russia
21. Serbia
22. Slovenia
23. Spain
24. Turkey
25. Ukraine
1. About Euroleague Basketball
- Euroleague is a private league owned by the clubs
- Euroleague is an independent organization of the traditional federative structure
See Pictures (courtesy of Euroleague):