The commissioner: “There is still nothing definitive but we want to honor the traditions of European basketball”. With him Andreas Zagklis, secretary general Fiba: “It is the best time to create this project”
The expansion in Europe of the NBA is increasingly close. At the end of the meeting of the owners to the luxurious St. Regis of New York Adam Silver, he immediately makes him understand with a significant gesture, dividing, in fact, the podium with the secretary general of Fiba Andreas Zagklis for what is called “an important announcement”. The road to the new European League designed by the Nacional Basketball Association, in collaboration with the Fiba, is now officially undertaken. The project is clear and Adam Silver therefore decides to come out. “We are ready for the next phase of the project – confirms the commissioner of the NBA – we want to do things in the light of the sun, for this reason we officially announce it in the presence of the Fiba leaders, the owners have welcomed the idea with enthusiasm and the answer we are receiving from the European market is very encouraging”. “In the wake of the incredible success of the last Olympics and the World Cup we are convinced that this is the best time to give life to this project – echoes to Silver the general secretary of Fiba Zagklis – One thing we want it to be clear, this league will be compatible with the various national championships and with the Fiba calendar”.
Euroleague out
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Double -sent closed door therefore for each dialogue with the Euroleague, the idea remains that of encouraging Clubs of great tradition, we already talk about a yes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Fenerbahce, to be part of the new NBA project. “All clubs in Europe are part of the FIBA - continues Andreas Zagklis – some take part in ‘that competition’ (the name” Euroleague is never pronounced editor’s note), our goal is to make the system more sustainable from an economic point of view, without losing sight of some fundamental characteristics of European basketball such as the pyramidal structure “. The idea would therefore be that of an” open “League with, at least at the beginning, 12 permanent clubs and four Wild Card to be distributed through qualifying criteria. Being able to create a new league we have the opportunity to take the best characteristics of the various systems. I think, for example, that there are big incentives to have permanent members but in the same way I really like the idea of being able to have teams that earn access through the victories “.
the picture
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The project seems much more ahead of what only a few months ago it could be thought so that the idea of starting the first season in 2026 is not a utopia. The next step will be to identify the most interesting markets and also convince some top clubs. Having are ready -made arenas ready for NBA basketball, then, and in Europe there are not many at this moment, it becomes a great point in favor for the city interested in becoming part of the new league. “We certainly look at already existing arenas – Silver closes – but this project will also give the opportunity to new investors to finance the construction of modern structures capable of hosting leading basketball matches. We also have an eye for industrial and media capital, without forgetting cities that have great basketball tradition, as we see for example in the south of Europe”. For now, the NBA does not make city names in pole position to join the new European League, but Italy is certainly not neglected with Milan and Rome which remain incredibly attractive for Silver and for the NBA owners.
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