By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
With the new Santiago Bernabeu stadium expected to become operational during next season, the Spanish capital once more is becoming an alluring Final Four destination for the EuroLeague.
Zeljko Obradovic admitted it in his recent Eurohoops interview and EuroLeague CEO Jordi Bertomeu himself admitted recently in Belgrade during his meeting with selected press that this is one of the league’s goals, to have a Final Four played in a football stadium with a retractable roof which can host indoor games.
To be exact Bertomeu also said that in the past he had initiated talks with the Amsterdam Arena, which is now renamed Johan Cruijff Arena.
The new Santiago Bernabeu also has a retractable roof and can be set up to host basketball games, changing its capacity and set up to accommodate the event.
It’s an experiment that has already been tested by basketball in Europe back in Eurobasket 2015 with the event being held in Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille.
While the Lille stadium has a total capacity of 50,186 seats for football games, the indoor configuration of the stadium for basketball games had a capacity of 27,000.
In Bernabeu’s case, the new capacity of the finished stadium will be 85,000 seats, so a record-breaking EuroLeague Final Four is expected when the league decides to pick Madrid as the host city.