After the separation of duties of Jordi Bertomeu, Marshal Glickman and Dejan Bodiroga, everything is done much faster in the world of Euroleague Basketball. The 13 shareholders have complete control and make the decisions as needed. In the last meeting in Dubai, the subject of the discussion could possibly shake the foundation of the top tier competition. Should it be ratified, it would send joyful messages on all punters holding original betting account, as they would have access to more matches and more options.

The premise of the issue at hand is that a consortium of Arab businessmen has expressed the desire to follow Maccabi Tel Aviv’s example and create a club of their own to clinch a wild card and be included in the next season’s schedule. Either through the increase of the number of teams to 20, or through replacing one of the existing programs.

The proposal

It all begins with the desire of Emirates to invest in basketball as well as football. The total package includes a monetary contribution of almost 60 million Euros (Turkish Airlines that currently holds the master sponsor position pays only 10). Besides the creation of the aforementioned team based in Dubai, the package makes the provision that the Final 4 of the 2024, 2025 and 2026 seasons be held at the Coca Cola Arena (17,000 seats) which is one of the most modern courts in the world. The competition will be renamed to Emirates Euroleague.

For the shareholding clubs this would mean a vast increase on their income. To the league itself it would mean a substantial upgrade to the product it offers. For the players it would mean greater contracts. It would also open up the field for sponsors that would not be interested to invest otherwise. In all it would seem like a win-win proposition for all parties involved, except maybe the TV broadcasting rights.

Television coverage

At this time the channels that have purchased the rights to broadcast Euroleague matches, pay up between 10 and 15 million Euros per season. If this proposal passes, then that amount would easily rise to well over 20 million per season, assuming that there will be a substantial number of broadcasters in the Middle East that would join the vault.

In many countries the channels that hold the rights are private entities that charge a fee for a user to have access to the broadcast. It stands to reason that the increase in the cost will be rolled over to a higher subscription fee. And that may be a problem for the general public if a multitude of sponsors is not found to join in.

The proposition has already met with preliminary approval from the shareholders and the remaining hurdle to pass, is the outcome of the negotiations for the TV rights that is expected to be concluded at the end of October. Unless there are issues that we do not know about, there will be a new status quo in Euroleague for the next season and it’s about time that you register for an original betting account and partake in the exciting opportunities in store for the future.