By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Zalgiris Kaunas general manager Paulius Motiejunas revealed that the club submitted an application to EuroLeague Basketball to organize the 2023 Final Four. If Kaunas is chosen as the host city by EuroLeague, then the Final Four will be held in Lithuania for the first time.
“We think the most important thing is to have a business and sports event,” Motiejunas said in a presser. “We don’t want money to go out and not return. According to the data of previous Final Fours, about 10 thousand people would come. Certainly not only to Kaunas, but to the whole district and also to Vilnius. People will be here for about four days and, according to estimations, 3.7 million euros will be spent. The revenues will be about four million euros and will go to EuroLeague but about 600 thousand euros will remain.”
Motiejunas added that Zalgiris‘ goal isn’t to make a profit but host a tournament of such magnitude. “There will be no financial benefit for the club,” he said. “But we want to bring such an event to Lithuania. We are facing problems because it wouldn’t be easy financially, but we have agreed with the municipality that they’ll contribute. The other part of the budget will have to be obtained from the state or other municipalities.”
Opened in 2011, Zalgirio Arena is considered to be maybe the top basketball venue in Europe, with a capacity of 15,415 and state-of-the-art facilities.
“Speaking with the EuroLeague about the Final Four, there’s no guarantee that we will get the tournament, but our chances would increase,” Motiejunas said. “We think that should become clear in the coming weeks. It’s one of our dreams as a club, because this arena was built for such events.”