The detailed decision of the Commercial Assets Shareholders
Executive Board, President and CEO Jordi Bartomeo’s statement,
record setting data and plans for the next season
Following the decision taken on March 12 to temporarily suspend all Euroleague Basketball competitions, the league, clubs, players and all stakeholders have maintained their willingness and continuous efforts to resume the competitions.
Having explored every possible option, the Executive Board has made the decision to cancel the 2019-20 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and 7DAYS EuroCup, as well as the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament and EuroLeague Academy due to the following considerations:
- The health and safety of our athletes, fans, staff, partners and local communities remains our top priority.
- The varied evolution of COVID-19 in different EuroLeague and EuroCup territories does not guarantee that all teams can hold their training camp and prepare for official games under the same conditions.
- The above has resulted in local authorities imposing differing restrictions on the movements of their citizens, with no guarantees that all teams can travel to and from the designated location. A reduced training camp schedule compared to the previously approved three weeks minimum would cause an increased injury risk for players.
- For reasons of sporting integrity, all competition system modifications including a reduced number of teams were discarded.
- Despite elaborating an exhaustive medical protocol for the competitions, the medical protocols currently being implemented by public health authorities require a period of self-isolation for any player, coach or referee that tests positive for COVID-19. Therefore, during the past two and a half months the necessary guarantee that the competitions could be completed regularly in July has not been obtained
- Our decision not to modify self-imposed deadlines – late May for taking a final decision and late July to finish the competitions – in order to avoid changing and impacting the 2020-21 calendar, including domestic league games as well as national team games in summer 2021.
- In keeping with our continued values of sports integrity and fairness, the Executive Board decided not to recognize any team as the champion for the 2019-20 EuroLeague, nor the EuroCup.
Statement from Euroleague Basketball President & CEO Jordi Bertomeu: “Without a doubt, this is the most difficult decision we have had to take in our 20-year history. Due to reasons beyond our control, we have been forced to cut short the most successful and exciting season in European basketball history. Nonetheless, record-breaking data showing how much our fans enjoyed the games to date gives us more energy than ever to start planning for an even better 2020-21 season”.
2020-21 season will start at October 1st with the following teams: Barcelona, FC Bayern Munich, Fenerbahce Istanbul, Khimki Moscow Region, Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz, LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne, Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv, Olympiacos Piraeus, Panathinaikos Athens, Real Madrid, Valencia Basket, Milan, Crvena Zvezda Belgrade, Zalgiris Kaunas and Zenit St Petersburg.
EuroLeague Basketball will explore opportunities to organize a season-opening charity event to celebrate the EuroLeague’s return to the court.
Among the 2019-20 EuroLeague season data highlights:
- 15% growth in fan interest across EuroLeague markets, with a positive trend in each one. France, Israel, Turkey, Spain and Germany registered the highest growth rates
- 15% growth in TV audience, with impressive rises in France, Italy, Israel and Germany
- Double-digit growth in digital platforms, including followers, reach, video views and engagement, as well as in unique users, pageviews and sessions on euroleague.net
- 12% growth in attendance and 75% of average arena occupancy
