By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
The talks about the “NBA Europe” endeavor are underway, and several basketball shareholders have presented their views on the matter, including some of the most well-known European coaches.
Speaking to the local newspaper “Nice-Matin”, Monaco’s general manager Oleksiy Yefimov, offered his view, which is quite interesting since his club is not a EuroLeague shareholder.
And why this might mean that the new project is more alluring to them, it seems that the opposite is happening.
As Yefimov said: “The fact that American and overseas investors are showing interest in European basketball is a positive sign. It shows that we’ve already created a product with real value. But I always look at these questions from one key angle: how can the European basketball ecosystem truly benefit from it? Unfortunately, at this stage, I see more potential risks than tangible opportunities for improvement”.
Monaco’s GM also talked about the elephant in the room, that so far, the details, especially financially, of the plan are not clear yet: “The NBA Europe project suffers from a major lack of clarity. No concrete figures or models are showing how a new league could truly revolutionize revenues, fan bases, or overall activity and monetization of European basketball. It’s worth noting that the EuroLeague fan base in France has seen a remarkable evolution in the past four years — around 70% growth — a result achieved thanks to the Roca Team, in its role as a driving force, and TV Monaco, as the main free broadcaster”.
That’s why Monaco doesn’t believe in the project, even though it has to be noted that this reaction also may come from the fact that Monaco so far has not been mentioned as a possible inclusion in the NBA Europe project.
Per Yefimov: “Honestly, I doubt Europe is ready to host a new league. If the NBA were to come in, the immediate consequence would be confusion among fans and fragmentation — leading to a dilution of talent, a reduction in commercial opportunities, and a loss of control for the clubs themselves. Instead, we should stay focused on what the EuroLeague must do to ensure long-term stability and solid growth. Once again, stability is the key. That means the EuroLeague should not focus only on the interests of its 13 shareholder clubs, but also listen to and include the ambitions of what I’d call the new powers — Monaco, Dubai, Valencia, Paris, and others. An expansion to 24 clubs, together with an increase in the number of shareholder clubs, would be the best way to protect and strengthen the European basketball ecosystem”.