BasketNews GM Survey 2023: Dubai plans and biggest EuroLeague's threat / News - Basketnews.com

According to a BasketNews GM survey, EuroLeague general managers want to see an increase in the number of teams and show support for the idea of expanding into Dubai.

Credit: LKL, Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports/BasketNews Illustration Credit LKL, Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports/BasketNews Illustration

For the third consecutive year, BasketNewsproudly presents the EuroLeague General Managers Survey.

Most EuroLeague GMs shared their thoughts on the offseason, the league's future outlook, and their predictions for the 2023-24 season.

In the last third segment of our survey, we'll focus on the critical decisions shaping the EuroLeague future, including an expansion to Dubai, the first primary task for the new CEO, Paulius Motiejunas, and the salary cap.

BasketNews GM Survey 2023:

Part I: best EuroLeague signing and next NBA player Part II: EuroLeague winners and best NBA newcomer

The first change from CEO Motiejunas

BasketNews asked EuroLeague general managers about the first primary task for the new CEO, Paulius Motiejunas, who began his one-year term in August.

This open-ended question allowed GMs to share their viewpoints, though there was some consensus among their responses.

Notably, 25% of the GMs advocated expanding the EuroLeague by adding more teams. Most of them proposed an increase to 20 teams, with one GM suggesting a 24-team format.

Another frequently mentioned priority was the enhancement of TV rights, which received significant support from the GMs.

Furthermore, the GMs mentioned various other areas for improvement, such as "enhanced transparency and financial stability," "scheduling more back-to-back games in the same countries," "upgrading data and statistical analytics to approach the level seen in the NBA and some other leagues," creating more "unity," and "EuroLeague expansion into new markets, specifically Dubai and the United Kingdom."

EuroLeague CEO Paulius Motiejunas: Dubai, new format, and expected changes First change Vote cast 1. More teams 25% 2. Income increase 15.4%

Expansion to Dubai

Per BasketNews sources, EuroLeague teams are currently in active discussions to assess the possibility of expanding into the Dubai market and the potential benefits it could bring by entering the Middle East market.

BasketNews asked the GMs to share their stance on a potential expansion into Dubai. The question received mixed responses.

Most GMs (66.7%) favor entering the Middle East market by expanding to Dubai. However, 33.3% of the GMs do not support this idea.

Expansion to Dubai Vote cast 1. For 66.7% 2. Against 33.3%

Salary cap

EuroLeague and its clubs have been working on establishing a salary cap system that satisfies all parties for quite some time now.

This process is time-consuming, but up to this point, the salary cap concept has garnered more support than criticism.

In the BasketNews survey, 75% of the general managers who took part expressed their approval of the salary cap idea, while 25% did not support it.

Salary cap Vote cast 1. For 75% 2. Against 25%

Merging EuroCup with BCL

The EuroLeague is moving towards merging the EuroCup and Basketball Champions League (BCL) tournaments to create a unified second-tier international European club competition.

A significant 81.7% of participating GMs expressed their desire to see the merger of EuroCup, organized by EuroLeague, with BCL, which FIBA runs.

Only one-fifth of the respondents were opposed to this idea.

While it appears that a change is on the horizon, EuroLeague and FIBA still have many steps to take and compromises to reach to establish a shared vision for how the second-tier European club competition should be organized.

Merging EuroCup and BCL Vote cast 1. For 81.7% 2. Against 18.2%

The biggest outside threat to the EuroLeague

While EuroLeague is still working to address internal challenges to improve its product and make significant strides in business and competition development, significant external threats complicate matters for the organization and its clubs.

BasketNews surveyed to identify the most critical current threats, and the opinions were quite varied, with four significant dangers receiving equal votes.

According to the GMs, the following are currently considered the most significant threats to the EuroLeague: the increasing growth of NBA contracts, the introduction of three NBA two-way contracts, NIL deals in the NCAA, and the development of the NBL and Japanese leagues.

Additionally, the ongoing conflict with FIBA garnered multiple votes, but it is generally regarded as a smaller threat than the first four mentioned.

Major outside threat Vote cast 1-4. The growth of the NBA deals 23.1% 1-4. Three NBA two-way contracts 23.1% 1-4. NIL deals in the NCAA 23.1% 1-4. The growth of NBL and B.League 23.1%

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