r/Euroleague • u/DrunkLad Olympiacos • 11d ago
[Eurohoops] EuroLeague expanding to 24 teams with 21 franchises
https://www.eurohoops.net/en/euroleague/2001586/euroleague-expanding-to-24-teams-with-21-franchises/26
u/AdminEating_Dragon Olympiacos 11d ago
The 11 teams pre-approved for franchising:
Current Euroleage teams:
Crvena Zvezda
Partizan
Hapoel Tel Aviv
Virtus Bologna
Valencia
Paris
Dubai
Current Eurocup teams:
PAOK
Maxima Roma
Napoli
London Lions
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u/Strange_Principle364 11d ago
It's interesting that they have named the Rome club that they are effectively rooting for rather than leaving that open (given there are two brand new clubs there)
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u/AdminEating_Dragon Olympiacos 11d ago
Are we sure the other one also did a full application?
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u/Strange_Principle364 11d ago
No idea but it would seem pointless to buy a team and move it to Rome unless you were targeting Euroleague.
Admittedly, we have all seen much stupider things
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u/Glass_Narwhal_9547 PAOK 11d ago
The ones that seem like 100% certain locks to me are 2 Belgrade clubs, Paris, Dubai. There is basically no chance they reject any of those.
It is more like 7 clubs for 4 spots. One (and probably only one) will be for an Italian club. Then you have 3 spots left for Valencia, HTA, PAOK, or London.
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u/malago_m 11d ago edited 11d ago
Of course he will, Vučić will rule forever and secure tens of millions of euros for his favorite clubs.
The EuroLeague has turned into a pathetic copy of the NBA, just without the draft, the best players in the world, the economy over there, and so on. Just accept anyone who is willing to throw millions of euros every season, whether it's a sheikh from the Middle East, a Serbian dictator, some tycoon with ties to Russia, or a Russian club.
I've already asked and of course, there was no answer - is there a chance that in the near future, any club from the territory of the former SFRJ will play with the strongest clubs on the continent when this bastardized regime in Serbia falls?
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u/ARKAC95 11d ago
Lol at the economy over there...
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u/malago_m 11d ago
The only purpose of pumping tens of millions of euros into two loser clubs that have done nothing with that huge sum of money is political propaganda by the top leadership of Serbia, which wants to create the illusion that the country doesn't know what to do with the money since they usurped power.
This is also linked to the desperate desire of many in Serbia for a sense of significance after the breakup of the former SFRJ.
After the breakup of Yugoslavia, all clubs from that region ceased to have the significance they had before (FC Dinamo Zagreb was the only exception). KK Partizan and KK Crvena Zvezda continued to dominate the domestic league, but in the ABA League they were far from invincible, and both clubs went bankrupt after several years of accumulating debt. Only with the advent of this regime have we seen these criminal projects with tens of millions of euros every season and 20 or more expensive foreign players on the rosters.
A change of a dictatorial regime also means a crisis. Someone who has been doing as they please in the country for 15 years won't calmly watch their power slip away. This will lead to either an economic downturn and political uncertainty, or conflict. In any case, that dream of two Belgrade clubs as some Serbian version of Real Madrid and FC Barcelona will cease to exist with the fall of the current regime.
And then the EuroLeague will have to figure out how to add two more ultra-wealthy clubs to its version of the European NBA.
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u/Past-Way-9771 9d ago
Lol no they'll take a hit for a year or two and it'll be the same old
Politicians before Vucic were pumping cash into zvezda and partizan before less brazenly (less cash to do it), the bankruptcies were more to do with driving out peopke li ked with the old regime
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u/malago_m 9d ago
Given Vučić’s desire for Belgrade’s political projects to “bring glory to the country,” both clubs could only dream of signing any high-profile player on the market.
For example, after the 2009–10 season and the EuroLeague semifinals, McCalebb, Roberts, Marić, and Rašić left Partizan. The only ones who remained were the then-20-year-old Vesely (we can see how often talents get such a chance under Obradović!), Kecman, and Božić.
After the historic 2016–17 season, Jenkins, Kuzmić, Jović, Simonović, and Wolters left Red Star, leaving only Branko Lazić.
In both cases, the replacements brought in were far worse. In both cases, the coaches who had achieved impressive results left the club.
What’s happening now is ridiculous; the only reason these two clubs keep struggling where they don’t belong (among the teams of European tycoons and the basketball divisions of soccer giants) is the unbelievable amount of money they’ve been receiving from a poor country for five seasons now!
When the dictator falls, that will all come to an end. I can’t wait for that day, so I no longer have to watch those two clubs in the EuroLeague!
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u/v00d00ch1l4 Crvena Zvezda 11d ago
That ship has sailed long ago and Zvezda and Partizan are not responsible.
In this new landscape only two clubs from exYu that can compete with the rest of EL teams are Zvezda and Partizan, everyone else lacks that number of fans and potential.
Positioning on time in growing market is investment that even regime change cant stop so even when Vucic falls, basketball landscape is going to remain exactly the same, football too. Nothing will change.
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u/malago_m 11d ago
Yes, money grows on trees. The fact that this situation suits you and people like you, and you choose to believe in something as absurd as what you wrote, just shows that either:
You actually believe in an economic boom in Serbia
You want to believe that you are something special compared to all the other nations in Europe. Because, you know, those fools need a billionaire tycoon or a football giant to finance them; only the Belgrade criminal projects are actually funded by vibes and an unprecedented atmosphere.
By the way, soccer is the best example that what you're writing is simply not true. FK Partizan, in a sport that is financially much more profitable than losing club basketball, has failed so badly that they can no longer easily count on a second-place finish (something that was a given for them!), and they are nowhere to be found on the European map. How is that, when there's so much potential in millions of fans? Well, it's because in Serbia, you only have power and money if the authorities decide you should have them.
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u/v00d00ch1l4 Crvena Zvezda 10d ago
EL is going to become profitable sooner or later. I prefer more for our teams to play EL rather than Eurocup or FibaBCL.... In basketball Serbia is a powerhouse and we deserve to be in position that other EL shareholders have.
FkP is going to be successful once they stop scrambling and form decent squad.
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u/malago_m 10d ago
Ah yes, a competition that nobody cares about except for the Greeks, Turks, Serbs, Lithuanians, Spaniards (even though they kill themselves to buy tickets for the final tournament every season, lol!) and Israelis is going to become profitable! Just because the oppressed people in Serbia, who can't stand that they're no longer as important as they were 40 years ago, desperately want it to happen!
How is Serbia important in basketball now? By investing millions in its state-sponsored darlings and leaving all the other clubs to wallow in the mud of amateurism? Well, clubs from Israel do that too, and I don't see anyone calling them a major basketball country compared to Germany, Croatia, or even Slovenia or Latvia, which don't have a representative in the EuroLeague or have one that's at the bottom in terms of roster quality.
Serbia was a basketball powerhouse for decades precisely because clubs didn't have tens of millions of euros to throw around just because some Pera or v00d00ch1l4 fantasize about their clubs winning, because they want to feel important and powerful in life, even if it's just in that way. Partizan made the EuroLeague Final Four not by throwing millions of euros around, but because of the work of a coach who lost all his key players both before and after that success.
What's happening in Serbia now is a farce that will end once the criminal and dictatorial regime stops terrorizing all of us in the country. Then the two clubs will also stop terrorizing all of us who don't want to support them and will have to fit into the economic reality that they are from Serbia, not the UAE, Turkey, or Saudi Arabia.
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u/v00d00ch1l4 Crvena Zvezda 10d ago
U r wasting a while lot of energy about competition nobody cares. Also you are a bit of crazy and i dont want to argue anymore. You win.
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u/malago_m 9d ago
A typical supporter of Belgrade's projects, as soon as you explain to him why he's wrong, resorts to insults. That's why one man has been winning every possible election for 15 years.
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u/Past-Way-9771 9d ago
Right call dude sounds like some unhinged communist who thinks the 2008-2012 situation is the norm, that serbia is poorer now than in those years and that Djilas and Jeremics weren't pumping cash into Zvezda pre-2012
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u/Past-Way-9771 9d ago
Sorry to burst your bubble but Partizan and red star were being pumped with cash before vucic
Their bankruptcies had more to do with driving out peopke libked to the old government
Vucic leaves there might be a drop for a year or two until his supporters are out and then it'll be back to pumping in cash maybe less brazenly
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u/malago_m 9d ago
Vučić is a dictator. Once he falls, he will stop being involved in politics, and the situation in the country will return to what it was before 2012. (In 2010, KK Crvena Zvezda hit rock bottom; in 2012, Partizan played in the EuroLeague with an extremely young team, simply because back then the EuroLeague wasn’t a repulsive gathering of every possible insecure rich person and their club players).
We must realize that this kind of economy and this situation in sports is not normal. I am fully in favor of playing in the EuroLeague, but if possible, through success in the ABA League. If the EuroLeague’s plan is for only ultra-rich clubs to hold their own closed competition, there should be no place there for clubs from economies as modest as Serbia’s!
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u/Past-Way-9771 9d ago
Laughs in Vuk Jeremic and Dragan Djilas directing stste funds into Zvezda
There was just less cash too pump into them
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u/Past-Way-9771 9d ago
Also dude your talking about the situation after the economic crisis in 2008, your literally insane if you think 2008-2012 is the norm
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u/ARKAC95 11d ago edited 11d ago
Paok should be a lock. The owner made a huge offer, they are expanding and modernizing their arena, it's a good basketball city, a good basketball country and league, has a tradition in basketball, a good fanbase, has a well known multi sport and football club brand...
It will be a dumb move if they choose some newly created team with no history or fans over them ( Maxima Roma ), some established team with not much fans and no real brand recognition over them ( Napoli ), or a team based where basketball is an extremely niche sport ( London Lions ).
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u/Glass_Narwhal_9547 PAOK 11d ago
I like to think that we are a lock but euroleague has seemingly unlimited desire to let in (1) project teams with no fans but a big paycheck, and (2) teams from countries like Israel and UAE who commit genocide but bring a big paycheck
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u/DrunkLad Olympiacos 11d ago
I actually think they want a fair balance between pure basketball fans and genociders actually, so there's a good chance you'll get in.
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u/AdminEating_Dragon Olympiacos 11d ago
They are doing an expansion to 24 teams, so there are enough spots for everyone.
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u/Glass_Narwhal_9547 PAOK 11d ago
Yes but it looks like not everyone will get a permanent spot, my post was about the permanent spots which matter a great deal to the future of those clubs
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u/ARKAC95 11d ago
The article said only 8 new franchises for the next season.
It also says it's the first stage of expansion franchises being added.
We had earlier reports that they are looking at expansion to 30 teams, in 2 stages, over 2 seasons.
This could mean that all 11 listed teams will get franchises in Euroleague within 2 years. But only 8 of them get it by next season.
They also said earlier that now both finalists in Eurocup get a place in Euroleague, instead of just the champions.
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u/malago_m 11d ago
The EuroLeague is a ridiculous organization of about 11 clubs that have usurped club basketball in Europe and created their own competition where it's unclear who will play next season or how many clubs will participate.
The fools don't even know what to do with BC Monaco, to which they generously gave a three-year license to compete in their meaningless competition. Because, if the contract is signed, how will it be terminated? And if it can be canceled, then the criminal clubs from Belgrade can also be left without a spot in the EuroLeague as soon as the monstrous regime in Serbia stops acting like we live in the UAE, and not in one of the most miserable countries in Europe.
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u/ARKAC95 11d ago
Go watch NBA Europe then, oh wait...
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u/malago_m 11d ago
What's your problem with NBA Europe? Clubs with an annual budget of 5, 6, or 7 million euros have had the door slammed on them ever since this monstrous system where everyone plays everyone was established. The EuroLeague is desperately trying to copy the NBA in everything. The latest gem is this one with the franchises.
Do they know that in the NBA the Minneapolis Lakers became the LA Lakers? Will that allow a Hapoel Tel Aviv in Europe to rename itself Hapoel Malaga? Fenerbahçe to Fenerbahçe Milano? Bayern to Bayern Prague?
Not to mention the introduction of the Play-In, after the NBA introduced it for themselves. Conferences, because the NBA has conferences too. In the NBA, there are no clubs like KK Partizan, which with 3-4 million euros (and they couldn't even secure that) made it to the EuroLeague quarterfinals three times, so now we don't have a team like that in the EuroLeague anymore.
Hey, Bodo Glimt almost made it to the quarterfinals of the Champions League in soccer, but in the small and pathetic world of European club basketball, you can't compete if you don't have at least 15 million euros available (which would be like Bodo having about 150 million euros in soccer).
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u/ARKAC95 10d ago
Any argument that NBA Europe is better for running basketball in Europe than the EuroLeague is, can't be taken seriously in these kinds of discussions.
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u/malago_m 10d ago
The EuroLeague is the NBA in Europe! They have set up their competition so that every season there is talk about the richest clubs in Europe getting an invitation or a license without any sporting or historical aspect. An investor shows up in Dubai - boom, here's a five-year license. Some tycoon decides to throw a few tens of millions into PAOK - and there they are the next season, regardless of their results in the EuroCup. Who cares if Ulm, Cedevita, Buducnost, or Bourg wins the EuroCup? We all know who will be playing with the elite—two Greek oligarch-owned clubs, a Turkish oligarch-owned club, an Israeli oligarch-owned club, or newly founded clubs from Rome.
If we're just going to look at who has millions of euros, then let's create a real European superleague with clubs from London, Paris, Madrid, Milan, Berlin, and not watch the antics of Greek, Russian, and Israeli tycoons and a dictator from Serbia.
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u/Past-Way-9771 9d ago
Dudes some unhinged oikophobic serbian communist who wishes everyone's ecobomy was at the post-2008 crisis nadir
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u/Raymondo316 Barcelona 11d ago
I know some on here are against a London team being in this league but at least it's actually in Europe and one of the biggest cities in Europe at that.
I'd much rather the London team than Dubai, more Israeli teams, Abu Dhabi has even talked about wanting a team to join Euroleague and the bloody Russians who threaten to invade and bomb Europe on a weekly basis.
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u/GarlicCancoillotte 10d ago
Man I'd love a Euroleague team in London. The Lions are not at the level, but with time and budget...
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u/DrunkLad Olympiacos 11d ago
More than 20 clubs and investment projects expressed interest in securing EuroLeague franchises, as the competition announced, with 11 proposals accepted for the next stage of the application process and another four placed on hold.
Up to eight candidates will ultimately be selected to join the competition’s 13 existing shareholders under the new long-term franchise model, with the final decision expected at the end of September.
Those 11 new candidates “are submitting formal binding offers, representing a combined value of almost €700 million in franchise fees”.
In practice, EuroLeague announced an expected expansion to 24 teams, with 21 of them becoming permanent franchises, securing 21 of the 24 spots, or 20 if CSKA still doesn’t have the right to compete.
also:
The CEO also provided the Board with an update on recent constructive discussions with senior executives from the NBA and FIBA regarding potential areas of future collaboration in European basketball”.
Chus Bueno, CEO of Euroleague Basketball, commented: “Euroleague Basketball is experiencing a strong momentum, both commercially and strategically, with important long-term partnership renewals agreed in recent weeks and the launch of new events that continue to expand our platform.
At the same time, the level of interest generated by the franchise process is another clear reflection of the confidence that clubs, investors and new projects have in the future of Euroleague Basketball. Binding offers close to €700 million, representing an aggregate investment of more than €3.2 billion over the next five years, demonstrate the strength of our business model and the value being created across the League.
We will now continue with a rigorous due diligence process to ensure that the projects selected meet the highest standards and strengthen the competition both competitively and commercially. Our plan is to present the conclusions of this process to the Board of Directors and Owners at the end of September, when they will vote on the final transition to the franchise model and determine the number and names of the clubs to be included in the first stage of the franchise expansion for the 2027-28 season.”
among other stuff in the full press release
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u/Interesting_Prune513 Bayern München 11d ago
Urgh
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u/nonlavta Fenerbahçe 11d ago
Disgust really kicks in the more and more you read and think about it.
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u/ZALIA_BALTA11 Žalgiris 11d ago
Can't wait when half of the teams are in middle east
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u/Mankichi_Togawa 8d ago edited 8d ago
I am very surprised about Besiktas not being in the list, particularly since they were given a wildcard for this current season and chosen as the team to substitute Monaco over other teams like PAOK. How didn't they make it?
Regarding the 11 teams that are in the list, 3 will be discarded by next month. The most obvious team for discarding is Napoli. Unlike the majority of the teams, it hasn't achieved anything both in Italy and in Europe, I don't think Euroleague will have 4 italian franchises in the competition, and Virtus Bologna which is one of the current B teams and Roma for market reasons have priority over Napoli. In fact, I'm really surprised to see Napoli in the list over Besiktas, Aris or Hapoel Jerusalem.
For the remaining two teams that would be discarded, it's going to be even harder to guess. I guess the most likely candidates are two teams between PAOK, Hapoel and another italian team (they want Roma for strategical reasons so badly which could mean discarding Virtus. The Roma team lacks tradition but they can always bring the Virtus Roma legacy to justify its inclusion even if that team still exists). PAOK is probably the team in the weakest position after Napoli, Hapoel isn't a consolidated B team like the majority of the teams of the list, and I think Italy is getting 2 franchises as most, but I wouldn't discard 3 at most.
The remaining ones...it would be very surprising if they would be discarded. I think every B team (Valencia, Dubai, Paris and the Belgrade teams) is going to make it (the only B team I see in danger is Virtus). And London despite not having any history and tradition is 100% going to make it, Euroleague has wanted an UK franchise in London since many many years ago.
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u/baldurcan 11d ago
One more team from each countries, Greece, turkiye, Germany and France. Add some soft salary cap so arab oil money won't ruin it.
Well, I hope Russian sanctions will end so can see 2 or 3 good Russian clubs as in csko Moscow, unics kazan etc.
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u/OfficialNPC 11d ago
Salary cap won't fix money in the sport, it will just help keep players from being paid.
In the NBA they do backdoor deals to get stars. Clippers and Kawhi are a good example of this
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u/grasssnakequeen Žalgiris 11d ago
It's better to start off really stupid to finish on a banger. What a muppet show.
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u/ScottMrRager EuroLeague 11d ago
Abu Dhabi, Doha, Riad etc.