Euroleague brings together industry leaders for a week of activities

Euroleague Basketball is opening the 2012-13 season in early July with a week full of activities that bring industry leaders and technical experts together to prepare the 2012-13 season as well as debate and establish the framework for an improved basketball in the future. The first week of July will see the first edition of the Euroleague Basketball Institute Technical Week, an umbrella platform for a series of events in Barcelona that will bring experts and stakeholders together in wide-ranging discussions ranging from the rules of basketball, officiating, and Head Coaches activities. Parallel to this clubs and industry leaders will be debating the latest marketing trends, in the 6th edition of the European Basketball Marketing Summit, all focused on continuing to grow the game of basketball.

The first event starts on Monday, July 2 with a Basketball Rules Summit, where an expert panel discussion represented with some of Europe´s best coaches, players, television analysts, marketing personnel, club presidents, sports directors, media and referees will debate what type of basketball is wanted for the future, and how the rules of the game and their interpretations can be adapted to make a more exciting, dynamic and enjoyable game. The two-day Basketball Rules Summit, which will look at the effect of current regulations on the spectacle, clarity and fairness of the game, will feature such voices as former Euroleague champions Zeljko Obradovic, Ettore Messina and Theo Papaloukas on a ten -member panel.

The EBI Technical Week continues on Wednesday with a meeting of the Euroleague Basketball Referees' Commission followed by a two-day expanded edition of the annual Euroleague Head Coaches' Meeting. The bench bosses from the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Regular Season and Qualifying Rounds teams will spend 24 hours discussing and debating topics as varied as the competition system changes for next season, the EBI Mastermind Coaching program, media collaboration, technological developments in scouting, a video analysis of the previous season as well as establishing the points of emphasis for the 2012-13 season in Euroleague Basketball competitions.

As the Head Coaches meet in the Euroleague Basketball headquaters on one side of Barcelona, the European Basketball Marketing Summit will tip off on the other side of town on Thursday morning with a full one-day agenda.  The annual summit, targeted towards marketing managers from clubs, leagues and sponsors throughout Europe, will welcome as speakers experts Dragan Kosanovic, Football Content and Legacy Manager at UEFA, soccer great Christian Karambeu, now a UEFA ambassador, Daniele Sanò, bwin.party Head of Sponsorship & Events and Brian Kabatznick, VP of  AEG Facilities among others. The summit brings together leading industry professionals to debate innovative and creative ways to solve the marketing and commercial issues that the sporting industry faces and to create a think-tank atmosphere for an improved marketing of basketball in Europe.

Euroleague Basketball clubs will also have the opportunity to share their experiences and develop their know-how in the two-day long Ticketing Workshop headed up by Marshall Glickmann, CEO G2 Strategic, on the weekend of July 7 and 8.

At midday on Thursday, the President and CEO of Euroleague Basketball, Jordi Bertomeu, will offer a press conference to media from around the continent to explain the initiatives - both in place and others under discussion - that seek to keep growing our sport in the coming years. The Euroleague Commercial Assets Shareholders' Meeting winds up Thursday's events in the afternoon and sets the stage for Friday's draws.

To finalize the week, the 2012-13 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Draws, which will be televised live on Euroleague.TV, take one last look back at the amazing 2011-12 season with the announcement of the Alexander Gomelskiy Coach of the Year, Executive of the Year and Devotion Marketing awards. Then come the draws for both the qualifying rounds and regular season of the 2012-13 Turkish Airlines Euroleague.

"Euroleague Basketball always looks to the future, a future that each year is more competitive, and seeks to find ways to find practical solutions to the issues faced by its clubs. We feel that it is important to start the season by brining all these experts together to bring out new ideas. The new EBI Technical Week as well as the well consolidated European Basketball Marketing Summit are a great way to bring together the many different people who make our competitions great and help us make even more improvement in the near future," Mr. Bertomeu said. "Here, at the very beginning of the next season, months before the games actually start, is the perfect time to learn new ideas and put them into action for the benefit of our fans."