By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
EuroLeague CEO Chus Bueno says the competition is in its strongest position yet after all 13 shareholder clubs signed new 10-year agreements, dismissing fears that the NBA’s planned European league could threaten its existence.
“It has been a very, very busy few months since I took the job, but today we’re very happy,” Bueno said, per CityAM. “I can say that we have never been better. We’re stronger, we’re together for 10 years, and the teams want to move to franchises, which means forever together.”
Bueno also insisted EuroLeague has nothing to fear from direct competition with the NBA.
“It’s OK to compete. I mean, we compete with the BCL, it’s fine,” he said. “One thing that people need to understand, EuroLeague will never disappear. Even in the worst case scenario, five teams go [to NBA Europe], the EuroLeague will still have 15 teams, so there’s no way that the year league will disappear.”
He acknowledged that a split between the competitions would hurt both sides, while reiterating his preference for cooperation over conflict.
“This is going to drive a lot of fragmentation and a lot of friction, and we don’t want that. We should both not want that, but it’s inevitable,” Bueno said.
Despite ongoing talks with the NBA, the two sides remain apart over the structure of a potential partnership.
“I wish I’d been here three years earlier, and we could have done a deal first and then go out to the market together. Hopefully – I’m an optimistic guy – we can still figure it out. I think that today we haven’t yet found the click, but there are a few conversations and, maybe from one week to another things can change.”
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