Chus Bueno, CEO of EuroLeague, gave a lengthy interview to La Gazzetta dello Sport. Here, we focus on the competition’s key internal issues.
ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE EUROLEAGUE
“We are seeing a flat trend with media, but to ask for more money we need to penetrate the market more deeply and deliver better audiences. With the clubs, we can do a much better job: that is the plan. And you have to do it in the key markets where we identify the greatest potential to increase TV revenue. I am also thinking about the direct relationship with the end user: we do not have a strategy to monetize it in the best possible way.”
ON THE RELAUNCH PLAN
“We need to create a truly strong digital platform for the end user. Everything starts with content distribution, but not just games: there is betting, merchandising, licensing, tickets, collectibles, fantasy leagues… If we optimize all of this by bringing it together on a single competitive platform, I can learn what your behavior is, what you like, when you want to buy, creating tailored services based on your profile and your behavior. That is how you begin to monetize.”
ON EUROLEAGUE+
“We will build a strong platform called EuroLeague+ with all these products for European fans. When will it be ready? We have already started. Backend development takes time because all the different processes have to be integrated, but I think that within 12 months we will be able to monetize more. Hopefully, in the next 6 to 12 months we will be able to roll it out progressively, adding pieces step by step.”
ON FRANCHISES
“How can I increase the value of a club as an asset? One of the things to do is to become a franchise. Why? Because it gives you a perpetual, permanent license. That means being able to make investments over a 20- or 30-year horizon, and being able to recoup an investment over 30 years instead of 10 if you need to find resources for infrastructure, arenas, or the club itself.”
ON THE FORMAT
“We are discussing internally whether it makes sense to change the competition format or not. We have seen the impact of a full round-robin format with 20 teams in terms of travel and the number of weeks with two games. We have not yet decided to move to two conferences. If we do, it will be because we have at least 22 teams, otherwise the number of games would be reduced by 25 to 30 percent, which would mean risking lower income from TV rights. And with five or six fewer home games, clubs could also suffer a backlash in ticketing and sponsorship revenue. At the moment, we are exploring both options: continuing like this for another year or moving to two conferences. When? On April 14 we will have the elements needed to make a decision.”
ON RUSSIA AND ISRAEL
“For now, we will not change our position on Russia… And for now, we are not changing our position on Israel or Dubai either. But that could change: we are monitoring it on a daily basis.”
ON REAL MADRID AND FENERBAHCE, WHO STILL HAVE NOT SIGNED
“I think they will both sign, and I hope relatively soon. When? I do not like deadlines, but they know we need an answer very soon because at the next board meeting in mid-April we will have to decide the format for next season. We need to know which teams are involved in order to see whether to go up to 22 with two conferences, stay at 20, or perhaps go down to 18 if, for whatever reason, things change. I hope we will have a positive answer in the next six to eight weeks.”
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