By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Interviewed by Walla! sport, the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague CEO Marshall Glickman spoke about the near future of the European competition, discussing the market in Dubai, Paris, and London.
The most important news is that there won’t be teams from Dubai in the 2023-24 Regular Season. “Next season, there will not be a team from Dubai in the Euroleague. We have had many conversations with them, for two years now, and the subject is of interest to us. If we manage to make it happen, it will only happen after planning. It is a different and special situation”, Glickman said.
Logistics and basketball culture play a big part in the decision of making a Dubai team enter the EuroLeague. “Think, for example, of the logistics: if for Tel Aviv it takes four hours to get there, for Dubai you have to fly there for seven hours… It’s not easy. There is a growing market there, there is money and there is a huge hall, but there is no history and tradition, no league, and no team yet. We would like to see basketball start to develop a little there”, he added.
Marshall Glickman also said it won’t be possible to make the Dubai team enter first through the EuroCup. “The Eurocup has really small clubs with a low budget, and it will be difficult to ask them to fly to Dubai. It would be really nice to bring Dubai into the EuroLeague family, and it would also make a political statement. I enjoy seeing the Greeks and Turks together on the field and watching the Israelis play against the Arabs from Dubai, that will be great”, the EuroLeague CEO stated.
Finally, he left the EuroLeague door opened for Paris Basketball and London Lions. “I definitely think that London and Paris will be in the Euroleague in the future. We did research five years ago with the Deloitte company and we saw that it is possible to increase the market in Germany, France, and England”, Glickman added.
PHOTO CREDIT: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague