By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The 7DAYS EuroCup is evolving into a broader portal to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, as it was confirmed on Friday in Berlin.
Per EuroCup: Euroleague Basketball executives shared the organisation’s vision on improving the integration between the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and the 7DAYS EuroCup, which would include broadening the access from the second to the first with a second team having access to the EuroLeague every season, as well as creating mechanisms so that one of the two teams that would qualify for the EuroLeague have the opportunity to remain in the top-tier competition for more than one season based on their sports performance.
Euroleague Basketball will continue working towards presenting a formal proposal to the EuroCup Clubs Meeting and to the ECA Shareholders Meeting in July 2019.
Additionally, attendees also:
• Reviewed progress of the competition during the 2018-19 season, mainly on
o In-arena spectator attendance (which saw a 2.5% increase)
o Digital audience, with eurocupbasketball.com breaking all-time records with 5% more unique users, 25% more visits, 38% more page views, and 14% growth in average session duration
o Social media audience growth (+20%) video views, engagement and reach levels growth (from 15% to 100%)
o Media rights, with an ever-growing family of broadcasting partners covering 134 countries and territories, and the EuroLeagueTV OTT platform completing the global footprint
o Clubs’ economic performance, including detailed views on budget evolution, average revenues and expenses
• Were updated on Euroleague Basketball’s medical services, collecting injury & illness reports to support clubs in their season planning analysing player workload across the competitions, also offering players, referees, clubs and club staff a neutral second medical opinion since the start of the 2018-19 season
• Reviewed and discussed proposals for the 2019-20 Bylaws to increase the EuroCup’s standards at all levels
• Reviewed the 2019-20 draft EB calendar that was also discussed at the recent ECA Shareholders Executive Board Meeting. The 7DAYS EuroCup Regular Season will be played from October 2 to December 18, the Top 16 from January 8 to March 4, and the Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Finals from March 17 to April 27
• Approved the 2019-20 EuroCup access criteria, based on Domestic League final standings after the Playoffs:
o Adriatic League (3)
o France (2)
o Germany (2)
o Greece (1)
o Italy (2)
o Lithuania (1)
o Poland (1)
o Spain (3)
o Turkey (2)
o United Basketball League (3)
o Belgium/Israel/Netherlands (1)(*)
o Wild Cards (3)
• Were briefed on recent proposals made by the Union of Euroleague Basketball Officials (UEBO)
EC Board members include ALBA BERLIN Basketball team GmbH, Galatasaray Spor Kulübü, Limoges CSP s.a.s.p., Asociacion de Clubs de Baloncesto, Jadranska Kosarkaska Asocijacija – ABA LIGA j.t.d. and the United Basketball League.
(*) One place will be reserved for one team coming from either Belgium or Israel or the Netherlands