Euroleague targeting London club by 2024-25 with Dubai investment on table
The Euroleague is potentially targeting expansion to London by the 2024-25 season, Spanish news outlet Mundo Deportivo is reporting.
With the Euroleague reportedly facing a pivotal decision this month on whether to take a €150million investment from Dubai over six years in return for having a Dubai team in the competition along with two Final Fours hosted in the city, with it comes a potential roadmap for growth by expanding the number of teams.
“Another path to growth, which was already on the previous EuroLeague roadmap, is expanding the number of teams,” journalist Jose Ignacio Huguet wrote.
“The idea is to increase the number of participants from 18 to 20 for the 2024-25 season (the Paris and London teams are the target), from 20 to 22 in 2026 and from 22 to 24 in 2028. Dubai aspires to have a ‘wild card’ for his team in the 2024-25 season and to enter as a full shareholder the following year.”
The Euroleague have been clear over the years (going back a decade) about their desire for a London team in the competition with new CEO Marshall Glickman having said this week London will be in the Euroleague at some point.
“I definitely think that London and Paris will be in the Euroleague in the future,” he told Walla (via Eurohoops.net). “We did research five years ago with the Deloitte company and we saw that it is possible to increase the market in Germany, France, and England”.
He added the Dubai team would definitely not come to fruition by next season.
And on the other side, London Lions have made it very clear their ambitions are the Euroleague, with their inclusion in the EuroCup this season a significant step forward in making that a reality.
“The London Lions are committed to raising the stakes and putting British Basketball on the global stage,” Lions GM Brett Burman told Hoopsfix this week.
“Being able to represent the UK at the highest level of European competition is something that we have our sights set on as we continue to build a program that can compete with the elite.
“Participating in the 7Days EuroCup has enabled us to take the next step as an organisation to see where we stack up against some of the best clubs in Europe.”
Glickman has acknowledged their ambition in another interview with Basketnews where he said:
“The London Lions want to be a EuroLeague team as soon as possible.”
Euroleague team budgets are in a different ballpark to what is seen in the UK, with the smallest gross budget last season being €8.4million for Serbian side Crvena Zvezda, and the biggest hitting €44million (Real Madrid).
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