Sportando interviews Bertomeu: We are very satisfied with the whole Euroleague season

1) How do you judge the Euroleague season recently ended with the final victory of Maccabi Tel Aviv?

We are very satisfied with the whole season as we have experienced record increases in audience numbers across-the-board for the Turkish Airlines Euroleague in every platform, from arena attendance to television, from online to mobile. We are especially proud of the more than 2 million fans who came to our arenas to experience our League, which means 10% more than lasts eason, and of the all-time record coverage of 201 countries and territories that were enjoying the games through our 52 television networks’ broadcasts.

We have experienced as well an increase in net revenues of 8.7% and in clubs distribution of 11% which follows the growth from previous seasons.

Talking specifically about the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four held in Milan, I have to say that we are extremely satisfied; we saw four outstanding games in a sold–out arena with an incredible atmosphere. Besides that, the Fan Zone was an enormous success with more than a 250.000 visitors and the rest of Parallel events like the Nike International Junior Tournament also enjoyed a high follwoing. It was probably one of the best Final Fours we have organized.

2) Did you plan something new for next Euroleague season?

Next season we do not plan to make any change in the competition format as we consider that the actual system optimal for the present situation. We are working for the following seasons to introduce some changes that aim to ensure the continued growth and stability of the organization's competitions while offering clubs a clear route to their individual and collective development to implement some changes in the qualifying system.

It was approved by the board the steps toward a consolidated club competitions structure that seeks to give all stakeholders - clubs, owners, sponsors, players, domestic leagues and fans alike - an easily understood framework that brings more long-term stability and fairness. The steps include reforming the licensing system of access to competitions. To transition towards this model, a new system would enter in force for the 2015-16 season, which would replace the current country ranking that allocates B-Licences, by guaranteeing fixed spots for domestic leagues to qualify for the Turkish Airlines Euroleague. We will also work to close an agreement between ECA and the domestic leagues on promoting, organizing and coordinating competitions to homogenize European professional basketball, creating a framework that would allow Euroleague Basketball and the domestic leagues to take the next steps towards an eventual European League model.

3) Italy lost Mens Sana Siena but there will be Dinamo Sassari as newcomer in the competition. What do you think of Sassari and Sardinia as new market for Euroleague?

After it was confirmed that Montepaschi Siena was unable to fulfill the necessary requirements to participate, we considered that it was very important to maintain two spots for the Italian domestic league and we just followed this season´s domestic league standings.

So far the information that we have is that Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari is a very professional and ambitious club with a solid project and we are confident that its participation will be well received by all the basketball fans of the region.

4) Is it true that Virtus Roma and Bologna tried to replace Mens Sana Siena in the competition? Why Virtus Roma is not in Euroleague QR?

We have never received any petition from Virtus Roma of Virtus Bologna to obtain the spot of Montepaschi Siena. The fact that Virtus Roma does not have a spot for the Qualifying Round phase is not because they resigned, like past season, but a decision of the ECA Shareholders Board that considered there were other projects that had priority to obtain a wildcard.

5) Alba Berlin got a wild card for next season. The German league is developing a lot: fans and the popularity of the league.

The German domestic league is a reference right now in Europe. They had an incredible progress during the last years combining the economic stability of the clubs with spectacular attendance numbers and also a big improvement in the competitive aspects of the teams. The main reasons that were evaluated to grant a wildcard to Alba Berlin are the ones we have been using during the last years. First of all, as we have stated in many occasions, Germany is one of our priority markets and therefore we are working since the last years to improve basketball interest in Germany and specially in the big markets represented both in Munich and Berlin. Having this in mind we have followed the German domestic league standings where ALBA Berlin ranked runner – up this season, losing against F.C. Bayern Munich. Besides the reasons of important strategic market and sport fairness we have also evaluated the excellent trajectory of the club through all the years in our two competitions Eurocup and the Turkish Airlines Euroleague, the great facility where they play its home team, one of the most modern in Europe, that guarantees an outstanding average attendance like in their previous participations in the top European competition.

6) Why Partizan Belgrade is out of Euroleague QR too?

After Cibona Zagreb not meeting the necessary requirements to be registered in the League, a one-year wild card was available for the ECA Shareholders Board to allocate to a club from any country/league. The Board decided to award this Wild-Card to a club from the ABA League to maintain this spot in the same region, and therefore to Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade, being it the next-best team in the leagues’ standings.

There is no precedent in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague of two wild-cards being allocated to the same country since the actual format is held. This is to give the league greater balance in the territories it is present.

Besides history and in-arena attendance, which always make Partizan NIS Belgrade a strong contender to obtain a wild card, there are other factors that are taken into consideration. In recent years, many teams from the ABA League have not been able to register in the Euroleague because of not meeting the requirements to play in the League.

Any team can apply for a wild card, Partizan NIS Belgrade did not apply for any.

7) Eurocup passed from 48 to 36 teams next season. What are the expectations for the competition? Will we have again in the future a Final Four also for Eurocup?

We were very satisfied with the current season but we were also aware we must improve the competition and bring stability to the format. It is our intention that the new format with 36 teams will be stable and we won´t make any change in the short or medium term. We will keep the geographic distribution of the teams in the Regular Season Groups and the inclusion of the Turkish Airlines Regular Season eliminated teams to bring both competitions even closer. The home and away Final format proved to be a success having sold out in both games in Valencia and Kazan and we consider that for Eurocup is the best option.

8) Will we ever have just two Cups in the future? (with an agreement with FIBA about Eurochallenge)

That would be ideal, since the current structure of competition makes no sense and only creates confusion amongst fans. We have had numerous talks with FIBA and proposed different agreements that would allow to establish only 2 European clubs competitions, but these were not accepted. We can not speak for FIBA, so I believe this is a question that would ened to ba addressed to them.

9) Italy will have three teams in Eurocup (Reggio Emilia, Cantù and Roma). What is the motivation behind the decision to keep Brindisi out? How do you judge Italian basketball?

As I recently explained in different Italian media, Italy has always been amongst our strategic priority territories, and it will continue being like that. We have and will continue taking all necessary steps to help bringing Italian basketball to the elite, where it belongs.

We have kept two spots for Italy for the next season even if this is the second year in a row that an Italian team fails to register. This season we have organized the Final Four in Italy which is another proof of how important we consider this market. With that said I also have to mention that we can not do everything, we need that the local bodies work in the same direction of helping basketball to grow its awareness and recover its popularity.