Marshall Glickman: We need to enlarge the league. 18 teams are not enough

The EuroLeague CEO Marshall Glickman, during his visit to Israel, gave an interesting interview to Walla. Here are some excerpts.

ON A NEW FORMAT

“We need to enlarge the league. I don’t have a magic format now, but 18 teams are not enough. We have more teams wanting to join than there are available spots. I like the Round Robin system with home and away games, and I love the Final Four. Maybe we should consider more playoff rounds.”

ON PARIS AND LONDON

“I believe that Paris and London will be part of EuroLeague in the future. Five years ago, we conducted a study with ‘Deloitte’ and saw that it is possible to expand the market in Germany, France, and England.”

ON DUBAI

“There won’t be a Dubai team in EuroLeague next season. We have had many conversations with them for the past two years, and the topic interests us. If we can get there, it will only happen after evaluation and planning. It is a different and special situation. Think, for example, about logistics: if it takes four hours to fly to Tel Aviv, then it takes seven hours to get to Dubai… it’s not simple. There is a growing market, there is money, and there is a huge arena, but there is no history, tradition, league, and no team yet. We want to see basketball grow there a little.”

ON THE RETURN OF RUSSIAN TEAMS

“Not before the end of the war. We will follow the decisions of the International Olympic Committee and other major organizations and act accordingly.”

ON RELATIONS WITH FIBA

“Our openness is that we want the great players to also play for their national teams. Now the question is how to organize the schedules, it’s the main challenge, and it’s not easy. There are games in the European championships and local leagues, and there are national cups. By the way, I know that in the NBA they are about to take the cup idea and do something similar. The EuroLeague and Champions League issue also needs to be resolved. What’s the answer to all this? I don’t know. I only know that there is willingness.”

ON THE FUTURE

“I have spoken several times with Tony Parker, president of Asvel. It hasn’t been that long since he retired, and he offers a different perspective. When someone complains about double rounds, he responds that there are not enough. He asks why not play like in the NBA.”