By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Amind a global pandemic, the Basketball Champions League was able to organize two Final Eights. So after five seasons of existence, the BCL is ready to make a “leap”, as it was called by CEO Patrick Comninos.
However, it’s not a leap of faith, but the next step of an evolution that continued even during the COVID era.
Starting from next season, the BCL’s goal is to organize a final phase that will not be connected to the teams which are participating in the games.
As Comninos said: “In the future, we will look for neutral venues (for the final stage), so we will no longer be dependent on the participation of the hosts. We believe we have reached that stage of maturity and we are ready to take that leap and try that direction”.
When the BCL was created, there was a conscious decision to award the hosting of the final phase in one of the participating teams for obvious reasons.
After five years, the BCL feels ready to organize a final phase in which the host will be announced at the start of the season. That’s a total gamechanger on the way that the final phase can be organized and above everything else get marketed to a much wider audience, attracting sponsors and creating more revenues.
“There are not that many events for team sports out there which can work like that, we were very conscious of that”, said Comninos who clarified that the BCL will work with local leagues and federation with the aim of having fixed hosts of the final phase no matter who are the participants.
Not having a fixed host during the COVID pandemic proved to be a blessing in disguise for the BCL which was able to host two events, one in a bubble, and finish both the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons properly.
And as we entering the post-pandemic world, the Basketball Champions League is placing one more big bet with themselves, having success so far in all the steps they have made.