By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Confirming a recent clarification made by Massimo Zanetti, Virtus Segafredo Bologna keeps the same name for the next season.
The sponsorship deal merging Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna and Segafredo Zanetti into Virtus Segafredo Bologna was officially extended through the 2024-25 season on Wednesday.
Segafredo Zanetti, owned by team owner and president Massimo Zanetti, has been the main sponsor since 2016, one year before Zanetti also became the majority shareholder of the storied club.
A few weeks back, the 76-year-old Italian entrepreneur, also known as the King of Coffee, rushed to reassure his commitment, following an announcement signaling an end to the partnership between Segafredo Zanetti and Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna.
The Zanetti era led Virtus Bologna back to the top-flight division of Italy in 2017, and from there to the LBA UnipolSai championship in 2021. Besides ending a 20-year drought with the 16th league championship in team history, the Bologna outfit bounced back into European club continental competitions in style by winning the Basketball Champions League in 2019, the 7DAYS EuroCup in 2022, and participating in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 installments of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. Also, it prevailed in the last three editions of Italy’s Supercoppa.
In 2023-24, the team coached by Luca Banchi ranked tenth in the EuroLeague Regular Season. Moving to the Play-In Showdown, a loss to Baskonia marked the end of the continental campaign. Trailing 2-1 to EA7 Emporio Armani Milan in a best-of-five championship series paints the current picture of the domestic campaign.