NBA Director announces: We met with Ali Koç

NBA Director for Europe and the Middle East George Aivazoglou stated that Turkey is a fantastic country that breathes and lives through basketball and sports, adding that the NBA, which is preparing to establish a new league in Europe, is interested in Turkish clubs.

In his statement to Anadolu Agency, Aivazoglou evaluated the purpose and details of the NBA Europe League project, the new breath it will bring to European basketball, and the countries and teams that could participate in the league.

Emphasizing that there are big clubs in Turkey with incredible history and passionate fans, Aivazoglou said, “Turkey is a fantastic country that breathes and lives through basketball and sports. As a Greek, I know your feelings well. Because we have many similarities. Fenerbahçe is a wonderful club. I congratulate them for reaching the Final Four. Galatasaray is also a phenomenal club. There are also great clubs like Anadolu Efes and Beşiktaş. Not just those in Istanbul, they are all great clubs. We are very interested in Turkey as a market for the new league project in Europe. We are very interested in Istanbul as a city. We would be happy to hear the views of anyone who has thoughts on how to bring this vision to life.”

Stating that they aim to reward success in the league system, Aivazoglou commented, “Let’s take Galatasaray as an example. Even if Galatasaray becomes the champion in the Turkish basketball league, it cannot participate in Europe’s number one club-level cup. This does not happen in football. In football, the team that wins the Turkish league earns the right to participate in the UEFA Champions League. We want to fix this. This is one of the fundamental problems.”

''WE MET WITH ALI KOÇ''

Noting that he had the chance to meet with some clubs during the EuroLeague board meeting held in Istanbul, Aivazoglou stated that they exchanged views with Fenerbahçe Club President Ali Koç within this scope.

Emphasizing that he does not accept the claims that the NBA’s project is a threat to European basketball, Aivazoglou continued his words as follows:

“I think this is a very strong and positive step towards a better European basketball for everyone in the European basketball community. We continue to meet with EuroLeague Board members very frequently. I accepted the invitation to attend the board meeting held in Istanbul on Monday. It was a great opportunity to meet with all the clubs and some team owners. We met with Fenerbahçe Club President Ali Koç, who was there. He asked really good questions and touched on good points that will contribute. I can say that the general sentiment is very positive. I reiterated that we are very open to cooperating with everyone in the ecosystem who wants to be a partner in this project and contribute to how we bring this vision to life. Our way of thinking about how this league will be brought to life is that it will be in a very authentic way according to European standards. This will be implemented in a way that respects the tradition of the game, the passion of the fans, and the way the game is played in Europe. We are aware that this is clearly different from the way it is played outside of Europe and in the USA. The new league project will be carried out in a very unique and natural way by European standards.”

CONFUSION IN EUROPE

George Aivazoglou stated that there is a value gap in European basketball and that this stems from two reasons.

Describing the lack of a clear and singular pyramid structure in basketball, unlike in football, as the first reason, Aivazoglou said, “Fans and teams in Europe are experiencing confusion. Fans ask, ‘My team became the champion in the local league, but why can’t it compete in Europe’s top-level international league? It’s not like this in football. Why is this happening?’ We want to redesign this pyramid in European basketball by fixing it and making it more transparent for fans, teams, players, partners, and the media.”

Aivazoglou pointed to the failure to represent Western Europe’s cities with large markets, which are strong in terms of media and sponsorship, at the expected level as the second reason for the value gap in European basketball.

Expressing that they are interested in the big cities and markets of Western Europe, Aivazoglou said, “I can name many cities like Madrid and Barcelona in Spain, London and Manchester in England, Paris and Lyon in France, Milan and Rome in Italy, and Munich, Frankfurt, and Berlin in Germany. We are interested in these cities. There are 3 paths ahead for cities and teams that want to join our league. The first is clubs that will voluntarily want to join our league. The second is existing football clubs that do not have a basketball team but want to establish one. Thirdly, completely newly established clubs. We will evaluate all these options. We have just started our research on this subject.”

''A CLUB FROM THE MIDDLE EAST WILL NOT BE IN THE LEAGUE''

In response to a question about whether a team from Middle Eastern countries would be included in the league that the NBA will establish, Aivazoglou replied, “We are very clear on this. We want our league to be a European League in a geographical sense. Therefore, a club from the Middle East will not be in the league.”

Reminding that the NBA has a long history of having a presence in the Middle East, Aivazoglou evaluated, “We have organized exhibition games and programs for many years in this region where we have great partners. Three years ago, NBA preseason games started to be played in Abu Dhabi. It is a phenomenal city. I know that interest in basketball has increased by 500 percent in the last three years due to our presence in the region. We will continue our presence here by increasing our efforts. However, I am very clear on this: the clubs in the NBA Europe League will be from European countries.”

''WE AIM TO START WITH 16 TEAMS''

Touching on the details of the new league that the NBA will establish, Aivazoglou commented, “We aim to start with 16 teams, and we want the vast majority of these teams to be permanent. Quotas will be distributed to Western, Eastern, or Southeastern Europe. We also want some of these teams to come from the ecosystem. These could be different teams each year, and they could earn the right to compete in our league. I think this offers a fundamental change to today’s European basketball structure. We can consider it a step towards a single and clearer pyramid that is very transparent and easy to understand, as well as fair, rewarding success, and based on merit.”

Underlining that they are focusing on market and city issues in the first phase of the project, Aivazoglou said, “We want to establish a balance between countries and cities in Western Europe. Many of them have a rich basketball history and tradition, and their commercial potential is also very clear. We aim to combine this with countries and cities in Eastern Europe and Southeastern Europe. There are smaller countries and markets like Greece and Serbia compared to England, France, or Germany, but they compensate for this with their crazy passion for basketball, large fan bases, and immense love for the game. We want to include both parts of the continent in the project because they offer us different things.”

''OUR GOAL IS TO PROVIDE BETTER SERVICE TO EUROPEAN BASKETBALL FANS''

Stating that the momentum basketball has created in Europe is at an unprecedented level, Aivazoglou commented, “Our goal is to provide better service to European basketball fans. Everyone saw how much excitement there was about basketball at the Paris Olympics, and how fiercely the USA, France, Serbia, and Germany competed. Today, 15 percent of players in the NBA come from Europe. European basketball players have also won the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award 5 times in the last 6 years.”

Noting that they are open to cooperating with everyone in the European basketball ecosystem in line with their vision, Aivazoglou concluded his words by saying, “We want to create something new and interesting that can serve European basketball better. You have many great components that have made basketball the second most popular sport on the continent. However, on the other hand, there are major shortcomings in terms of creating value for everyone in the basketball ecosystem. The lack of clarity and transparency causes teams, players, and fans—in short, the entire ecosystem—to suffer and prevents value from being created.”

News Source: 12punto