By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
While in Israel for the preseason game between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Darussafaka Dogus, Euroleague CEO Jordi Bertomeu revealed the amount of money that each club of the competition will add to its bank account, after a successful result.
“Euroleague will pay €40.000 per victory during regular season, a sum which will be increased to €70.000 in the playoffs. The champion will receive €1.000.000, the finalist €500.000, the third place winner €300.000 and the team that finishes four in the Final Four, will get €200.000. In total, €30.00000 will be divided among Euroleague clubs”, he said in an interview for Israeli website Sport5.co.il.
Bertomeu also talked about the criticism that Euroleague has received during the summer. Is it a closed league, as some claim? “We are not a closed league. Every year year we will have five new teams. We have 11 closed contracts. The Eurocup champion will join the Euroleague each year. You have to understand that the 11 clubs that have signed closed contracts have been extremely successful in their domestic leagues, therefore they have proved that they are the best teams. You cannot say that they do not deserve to be in Euroleague.”
“In the future, we may increase the number of Euroleague teams. Maybe up to 24. It will take time, of course. Expansion of the league would currently affect the timetables of local leagues. We respect them and don’t want to hurt them, ” he added.