Opening statement:
Paulius Motiejunas: Hi, everyone. It's a privilege to be here with you again after the Final Four, where I'm pretty sure many of you were in the press conference. But when you ask about the season and the final still pending, there's always quite some tension inside, hoping everything that will go well. But right now, we are proud to be here. I'm proud to be here representing the Euroleague saying that it was an amazing season. It was a successful season. It's something that was historical because of our 25-year anniversary, I'd like to start with thank yous, first and foremost for the team owners and team managers who run the league, who are the shareholders and who also take care of the best product on the court, which goes hand in hand with the coaches, the players and the staff who make the game happen. Then, of course, all the technicians: the referees and everybody who takes care of the games that they are successful. We had one more season where every game mattered. We had one more season with a lot of passion on the court. But for us, as the league management, it was very important that things off the court were very successful. So a big thank you to almost 3.3 million fans who came to the arenas. It's an amazing number. It's a growing number. It's a record number for us again. So thank you to everybody who was there live to support and give emotions and big energy to the game of basketball and to the teams who were playing. Also, thank you to all the people who were watching on TV. The TV viewership doubled in the past five years. Digital engagement quadrupled in the last few years. And, of course, the content that we generated across different social platforms generated three times more engagement. And, of course, that would never would have been possible without the team that we have in the office, the people who come here every day, who try to do their best to have the wonderful product that's on the court presented to you off the court. So thank you to my team and for everybody who contributed. Of course, this evolution brings us more responsibility, which is something that we are not afraid of. We really believe this is not the peak for the league. This is only the momentum. And we are building on that momentum. I think the upcoming season, we will focus on three main elements, which are growth, stability and purpose. And what I mean by growth, you all saw yesterday that we announced that we're going to 20 teams next season, which is a huge, big step, a huge step for us as a competition because it seems not too much. But it's geographical expansion, it's more games in total, it's more games for the teams, but it was a well-thought decision and calculated decision, so we’re really looking forward to that. The other thing that we are proud of is our renewed agreement with IMG, which has been our partner since 2016. We renewed the partnership with them for another 10 years (until 2036), so we're happy to have them by our side to continuously grow the product and the product of basketball on TV, on social media, with partnerships, and to work hand in hand with such a strategic partner is a privilege and we are happy about this. Of course, we need to not forget that we took a brave decision last season to move the Final Four outside the European market, which was a brave decision. And we are really, really happy with the outcome that we had. So we opened new markets. We’ve opened a new market even more in the Middle East with the team from Dubai joining the competition. A lot of things to be excited about for next season, which we are. Hope you are as well. And the floor is yours.
About the financial situation of ASVEL, and the league’s Turkish Airlines partnership as naming sponsor:
Paulius Motiejunas: We are in talks with Tony [Parker]. We are in talks with Gaetan [Muller]. We also hear the rumors that that are there in the media, generally that we read, but we trust what Tony is saying, we trust what Gaetan is saying. We know that they're doing hard work to make everything work out. So we are very positive that they will do it. We don't have any doubts that they will be successful. So if you ask us, there are no signals, especially from their side, that we should be worried about their participation for next season. We are hoping and hopeful that it will stay this way. Regarding Turkish Airlines, we are in negotiations. We are also discussing a new strategy that is possible. So, please, stay tuned. There will be news. We are working on it. That's all I can comment at this at this moment.
About losing Berlin as a market but gaining Valencia, Dubai and another Israeli team:
Paulius Motiejunas: We are not paying less attention or trying to cover up with other markets for the loss in Germany. We have a great club in Bayern Munich who's been the locomotive in growing the market there and we will continue to do it. We have three clubs in the EuroCup from Germany, so this shows that we really believe that there's a lot of potential. We have to respect ALBA’s decision. It's very sad that the fans in Berlin will not be able to see the EuroLeague, but this is the club’s decision and the league has been supporting the club for many, many years. We've been in partnership. We've been supportive on and off the court with growing the club and trying to get them on them on the competitive level. But they chose what they chose. Going back to the market of Germany, it's one of the fastest growing markets together with France. The market grew 46% in the last four years and we remain committed to strengthening our presence in Germany. We have one club, like I said, Bayern Munich, one of the biggest names in Germany. We renewed our TV partnership, so we'll continue doing everything to keep the German market growing. And we have no doubts it will continue to do so.
About the situation with Maccabi and Hapoel and whether safety can be guaranteed:
Paulius Motiejunas: I wish I had a clear answer. I'm really happy we still have quite some time until the start of the season. So being optimistic, we really believe that the situation will settle and it will come down, and hopefully peace will come. This is this is what we've been saying about the war in Ukraine. And now, obviously, the situation with Israel and Iran. Saying this, we continue to monitor the situation and the main thing and the key thing that you are mentioning yourself is the safety and the safety of the team, the safety of the fans. So we will monitor the situation and at the moment when we look at the season and we plan the season, we continue to talk to the clubs that they would play their home games at a neutral venue. But as you mentioned, with the situation escalating, and if it doesn't come down, we will we will need to make decisions to protect the fans and protect the teams, the players, the coaches and everybody around the game. So at the moment we remain optimistic, hoping that everything will end before the season and hopefully as soon as possible so that safety can be guaranteed.
About Partizan and Crvena Zvezda’s future as potential long-term partners:
Paulius Motiejunas: Let's take it step by step. It was a good thing that we can finally give some stability to the clubs. We understand that this is only the first step. We also understand that looking at the whole picture of the EuroLeague, it will change. The number of teams; now the first step is we grow to 20, but we are looking at the opportunities to grow a bit more. But again, let's take it step by step. To answer directly to you, yes. They’ve been a part of the EuroLeague for many years. How we see them permanently or what decisions will be made to keep them for longer or even longer than three years, of course we will work on that. But we need to understand that it's also Valencia, it’s also Virtus, it’s also Monaco and the other clubs who want to be part of the EuroLeague forever or permanently, let’s put it this way. And when I say permanently, the first on the list now is, of course, Paris. We mentioned openly to everybody that we are discussions about adding them as a permanent member.
About one-year licenses given to Hapoel, Monaco and Paris:
Paulius Motiejunas: You probably know the answer as well as me. Monaco is still playing as the EuroCup Champion. This is this is one more year that we have two clubs from the EuroCup, which is Hapoel Tel Aviv which won last year and Monaco which won many years ago, but they stayed in the playoffs. So this is one more year that they play as a EuroCup team. So that's why we focused on the season as it is. But rest assured that we value very much what Monaco did, what Mr. [Alexey] Fedoricsevs did. We are in talks with the club. We see them in the league in the future, but we’re going step by step, as I explained. So there's no doubt that they will stay in the EuroLeague in the future. But as they have one more year, according to the previous rules to stay as the EuroCup champion, we didn’t want to change this and we want to follow that rule, rather than focusing and extending the contract for more years. But this is pending and this is something that we will continue to do and talk to the club. And I'm very positive that we will keep them in the league for for the season after 2025-26.
About the FIBA windows, particularly for American players:
Paulius Motiejunas: Let me start with the second part. I think it's clear that the talks are only with European competitions. In all the meetings with FIBA and all the meetings with the NBA, it’s never been raised that the NBA players would stop and would go to play the windows. And when you asked about the windows itself, I think it's not only a EuroLeague issue, it's also a generic issue of the basketball community. It involves all the club competitions, which are the domestic competitions, and then it includes the EuroLeague as well. So the last couple of years, as soon as I came in, you’ll remember we opened the window in February, which we did and we kept open for two years. This year, because we expanded and the weekends are taken by the domestic competitions, EuroBasket is finishing really late, so we cannot start the season even earlier. We tried to figure out what we can do, and we had many discussions with FIBA and Andreas [Zagklis] about what we can do. You saw in the calendar that we will shift our games in November to Tuesday, Wednesday so that we keep the window in November. We analyzed the idea of doing it in February as well, but you need to understand that again, domestic competitions have the cups, so after the cups, in some countries the teams would play three games in four days – and they finish on Sunday. So if we do the games Tuesday, Wednesday, it could be that the players would play five games or four games in six days, plus they would have to travel. So it was physically impossible to do that. And that's why we take into account our ELPA. We take into account the teams and the doctors. Again, this this was not a decision. The expansion decision was made by calculating everything. So we are showing flexibility and we want to show flexibility. And this is what we also mentioned to FIBA that we will remain flexible in the future to try to bring back the February window as well. This year, like I explained to you, it was basically impossible. But we believe that this is unfortunate that so many things add up: the EuroBasket, which is a fixed date and ends late, and all the other stuff. So in answer to your first question, I really believe we will find the solution. We will work out a solution. But I'll finish by saying we all have to look in the same direction. By all I mean the domestic leagues, federations and so on and so forth.
About the 2026 Final Four, which is not yet announced:
Paulius Motiejunas: I wish I could tell you more, but I cannot. As we are in discussions. I don't want to go deep into everything. We will make the decision much faster than we did last year. So we need we need to understand that last year was an exception. But for sure we will do it in Europe in 2026 and then we have an option to go back in 2027. So please stay put. We will work on the decision and let you know as soon as possible.
About opening the possibility for more clubs to become shareholders, plus meetings with FIBA and the NBA:
Paulius Motiejunas: To answer the first question, we are looking and checking the alternatives. I would say that there will be changes. We want changes to happen, but it's too early to elaborate on that. But by growing the number of participating clubs, you see that we're trying to bring stability and we will continue working on that. So I would say yes, unfortunately I cannot go into more details. We need to work it out with the clubs and the finance and IMG and everybody involved. So that's pending. Regarding the NBA, it was a very constructive meeting. We also checked the press conference of Adam Silver saying that the project of the NBA is probably going to be moved a couple of years, so starting in probably 2028. I think it's tangible progress. We're trying to understand and see more of the plan that that is in the head or what opportunities they're exploring. And, as I said, it's clear that we don't want fragmentation. That's the main thing we need to avoid because we should care about the fans, we should care about the product. And the other message we keep saying is that we are open to collaborate. I repeat, there is no need to create a new league. There is the EuroLeague, which is open to working together. That's why I really believe that the only chance to move forward is to focus on what the clubs have already created here because the vision that we see and what we hear is that it's more or less in line with what we are doing right now, with a clubs who are stable, with clubs who come from second competition to play and the clubs dropping out, clubs being involved in in the league management a little bit. So this is something that we have done for 25 years. Let's sit down. Let's collaborate. Let's work on how we help open up new markets that we are focusing on already. How we make decisions together. How we do TV deals together, how we do sponsorship together, and how going back to the windows question with FIBA, how do we fix the calendar together. So I really believe that, and I know, that we have the best European product created, and I don't see why somebody should try to create something new where we could go together and work on how we unlock opportunities together. So we are open to collaborate. Great meeting. Next steps. We will have another meeting, hopefully in the summer. We don't have a set date, but the negotiations and communication are back and forth, so I'm pretty sure we'll have a list of meetings and start putting the pieces into the right boxes. And again, I remain very optimistic that together we can do much more than fragmenting and doing it separately.
About SKWEEK (French TV rights-holder):
Paulius Motiejunas: Sometimes I wish I could say more, but we are happy with the partnership. We have one more year. One more year left. They have done a great job of covering the games, and I don't have any negative things to say about the SKWEEK relationship. So we're happy with what we’ve had. We have one more year left, and what the future will bring, we will keep you posted and let you know. Sorry again for this vague answer about the next steps, but we'll announce when we know things.
About the situation in Israel and how it affects the Israeli teams:
Paulius Motiejunas: These are two very tough questions because I need to have some psychic powers to see what the future is. We live day by day. I really don't put in my head the scenario that we would not have Israeli teams. It's Maccabi, it’s Hapoel Tel Aviv and also Hapoel Jerusalem. So again, I repeat that our main priority is safety. Our advantages is that we have time and we have to be optimistic. Saying that, I also need to say that we are in touch with all the other sports organizations. We're talking to FIBA, we're trying to analyze what FIFA will do and so on and so forth. So let's not try to get ahead of ourselves. Let's try to hope that everything will be getting better, calmer and safer. Step one is they play in neutral venues and they continue in the competition playing outside Israel. Step two, if there's peace in the world and it's safe, it was always said that we need to give respect to the fans of each country and each team. So it's the priority of the club and of the league to go back and play in the arenas. But again, safety, safety, safety. So let's stay optimistic and let's see how soon that things get better. We are not closing any door.
About Valencia’s return to the EuroLeague:
Paulius Motiejunas: I'm very, very happy for Valencia to be back. I can't wait to go and see the new arena that they're building and they will open. I've seen pictures, I've been close to it, so I’m very eager to go for the first game and be there and experience the atmosphere. It will be the newest arena in the EuroLeague, so I’m very happy about that. We have great clubs – Madrid, Barcelona and Baskonia – playing, so to add Valencia there as well, I think it's a good step for us. So again, only positive. Very happy. Can't wait to see the next step because the club is growing. It's taking huge steps to be better. And we are always supporters of this nice approach, good approach. And the owner, together with Enric [Carbonell], the GM, is doing a great job, so I can't wait to show our support and I’m very happy that they are part of the EuroLeague family for the next three years.
About next season’s calendar and FIBA’s reaction:
Paulius Motiejunas: Like I said before, we were in contact, I think multiple times, and we worked on the calendar together, and we presented it to the clubs. That's why we still respect one window. It's not February, it's November, but we still respect one window. The clubs made a decision. We have to protect the players. We have to work on it together. So I don't want to repeat myself, but, yeah, we are waiting for their reaction. We informed them about the decision that was made. I know there's the women's EuroBasket going on. I know how busy they are, but, it's a weekly discussion with them about not only the calendar but the other issues that we're trying to work on together. It's a collaboration and I really believe that we will continue to work together to try to find solutions on many issues.
About Partizan and Crvena Zvezda’s importance in helping the EuroLeague grow on social media:
Paulius Motiejunas: The clubs are improving a great thing. Every year I think they're getting better. Focusing on financial stability, focusing on ticket sales, following the regulations. There are things we can improve and we are also constantly talking to both clubs. But yes, we are happy. I believe the atmosphere that they are creating, the fans are creating, and the derbies… We need to not forget the Greek teams as well, the Spanish derbies which have been shown in the Rivalry Series that we had and what's happening in Belgrade, it’s really a great atmosphere. So happy, but always not satisfied completely. So we’re talking with the clubs on how we can continue to grow. But I think the reason they have now a three-year wildcard is because we are happy and we see the potential with those clubs.
About Neptunas Klaipeda returning to the EuroCup, plus returning to Abu Dhabi for the Final Four in the future:
Paulius Motiejunas: Starting with Neptunas, we are following the situation. We see that a lot of changes in coaching and in management and Martynas [Mazeika] reached out, saying that they would be willing to work together with municipality to get the club to another level with Gediminas [Petrauskas] coming in. So it's clear that there's potential and there's momentum. We believe there's momentum in the club. We know where they come from, they played in the EuroLeague, we need to not forget that. So we know the history, and they've been a part of our system for many years. So now we believe the timing is right. And of course, the influence for that was losing the other team in Lithuania, which we were all disappointed by the news by Wolves stopping its existence or pausing its existence, which they said publicly. So this is the argument for Neptunas. And we're always there to help the management to see the momentum and see the potential. Now, the question about Abu Dhabi. Everybody is very satisfied. We think and the feedback is that it was the best Final Four. It was sold out in seven hours. It was a remarkable event. The feedback was very positive from everybody. And, of course, we need to thank the DCT of Abu Dhabi, the Department of Culture and Tourism for hosting us and helping us do it. We are in talks with them about how to make the next Final Four or even better, because it's only the first one. So, many chances to grow and make it even better. I say it a lot, but I remain optimistic about it and I am very happy with the result that we have.
About playing the Israeli derby in Israel:
Paulius Motiejunas: Openly right now, it’s quite difficult to imagine this. Hoping and being optimistic, yes. We would analyze this opportunity.
About including more Turkish teams in possible EuroLeague expansion:
Paulius Motiejunas: Why not? I would say why not? We have Bahcesehir, which had an amazing season and a good season in the EuroCup. Also a growing club and also trying to expand. We have two more teams playing in the EuroCup next season. There’s the great team of Galatasaray as well. It's a great market. We have the strongest team in Fenerbahce, who is the champion. We have a great team of Efes, whose owner has been an amazing support for the competition and for the team. So I'm pretty sure that expanding and having Turkish market growth in Europe is an option.
About financial fair play regulations:
Paulius Motiejunas: We will know the information, we are working on this. But even if we know, we will not go step by step explaining who's making profit, who's not. It’s not the goal of all the teams. The thing that we need to focus on is that everybody's following the commitments. We approved the things yesterday, so it's kicking in, it's starting next season. So for sure everything is done and all the teams will have to adapt to that. After presenting the first plan that we worked on for two years with the clubs, we tried to change a couple of things. You know all of them, they were presented yesterday, and again, just to clarify that there are no more doubts, the changes were approved and the financial fair play will be followed starting next season.
About Monaco’s possible new arena and having more than 20 teams in the future:
Paulius Motiejunas: The first question is probably the chicken or the egg. We see Monaco in the EuroLeague in the future. This is fixed. Now, if they want to permanently be here, of course they need the arena. We will not commit, or the clubs I'm sure will not commit with only promises or discussions. We are here as a league to help them get the process going in any way possible. We clearly see them in the future. We are there to help them start the arena. And now we have to work hand-in-hand on the timing. Regarding 20 teams, yes. There are other teams who want to join. We have strong teams who would be joining. We need to not forget that we have one shareholder who is suspended and not playing next season because of the war. So we are working on elaborating the plan of going to more than 20 teams and having 24, then changing a little bit the structure of the competition. So everything is pending, but the main goal for us would be to keep the competitiveness of the league, to keep ‘Every Game Matters’ on the table. Because that's the key, how exceptionally the fans see the games. And we don't want that to change. We believe this is the core. by saying this, I also want to underline that we will respect the domestic competition calendar and we understand that we are part of the basketball ecosystem and we will try to follow it. This is something we told to FIBA as well. It's in our plans to grow, but to find a way how we accommodate everything and not step on somebody's toes by only growing the number of teams and the games.
About the 20-team format and NCAA:
Paulius Motiejunas: We know that round-robin cannot go above 20 teams. These are the calculations we've done. This is what we spoke with Boki [Nachbar] and ELPA. And for sure if we go above 20, the system will change. It would be conferences. We will still have every team playing each other. For sure we don't want to go back to the draws and not knowing who's coming or if you get to compete with everybody. That's an easy part. The second question is not that easy. I think we have already implemented many things to keep the young talent in the league under-23 players in the financial fair play and registrations and so on. So we have many things which were implemented. The problem is that they are still going there and we see that NCAA is changing the status quo. We have started talking and we are in discussions with FIBA about this, working on the letter of clearance. You read the press releases as well. They are trying to help solve this issue. I think if we put buy-out clauses and let the clubs put in agreements the condition that even if you go to NCAA there's some kind of buy-out and so on, then it's easier for them to calculate the investment versus the return. And we have the junior competition that we have. We have to go hand in hand and step by step to see how we try to find a solution. Recently I got in touch with one of the D12 conferences who are also talking with us and we’re explaining the issues that we have here in Europe when they opened this new market with all the contracts. So I think everybody is interested to create the system that the clubs would be rewarded for growing young talent. Not only growing young talent and they leave. This has always been a discussion between the clubs that only a small percentage of the players who are in the junior system make it to the first team and the investment is quite big. So we are here to find a solution and hopefully it will not take too long. And also, the other part that we are saying is that after NCAA the players will still have to come back to Europe, so we hope that they will be developed in a good way and the talent will come back as soon as possible and strengthen our teams and our competition.
About instant replay situations:
Paulius Motiejunas: At the end of the month we'll have a coaches meeting. We'll discuss with the refereeing department. We'll discuss with the coaches. We are in talks with ELPEELPA. We are in talks with the referees as well. So it's pending. There are issues that we want to address. We want the game to move faster. We want your example about the reviews. I don't want to be the expert here. I will be in the middle to share my opinion. But we believe it should be between the referees, coaches and players trying to find a solution. Of course, the team managers have a big say as well. So we will gather the comments and see how we can improve the game and the refereeing.
About the league benefitting from the Israeli derby:
Paulius Motiejunas: I really miss the atmosphere of seeing Israeli fans in a full arena. It’s as simple as that. I can’t wait to see it. The Hapoel Tel Aviv owner talked a lot about it, I remember how wonderful the atmosphere was in Maccabi’s arena and I truly miss it. To see it, to experience it. It’s one of the best places to watch basketball.
About the financial fair play regulations and the Turkish Airlines sponsorship agreement:
Paulius Motiejunas: Turkish Airlines is a naming sponsor at the moment and we are in talks with them. But of course, our sponsorship department is talking with everybody, with many other companies as well. So once we have final decisions, we will let you know. Regarding the financial fair play, if we approve it, I hope you understand that we believe it will help, it will not harm the league. The whole goal of the financial fair play is to control the spending a little bit and to bring more equality between the clubs. And of course, financial stability is one of them. We need to control a little bit the competitive balance, which is something we want to do. And when you ask the question: are we sure it's going to work? We are not sure, but we are taking this step and we will continue to analyze. It's not like we implemented it and it sticks like this and we're not going to do any changes forever. This is a very brave step from the clubs to take this decision. And in theory you put and imagine how things will work. But once we put it into practice, we will analyze, we will talk and I'm 100% sure we will implement changes and we will go step by step to continue focusing on the financial stability of the fair play and the competitiveness of the clubs. I think these are the three key points, the reasons why we implemented this financial fair play.
About the licenses of FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, plus Barcelona’s potential new arena:
Paulius Motiejunas: I think the role of us here in the management is to prove that we are growing. And when I say growing, it's in those key phases that we have. The fans, the fans who come to the arenas, the attendance. And the goal that we have is to grow the valuation of the league three times in the next five years. This is why we're here every day. And this can only be done with Barcelona and Madrid here with us. And when I say Barcelona and Madrid, I mean all the 13 shareholders. And I hope and I think that this valuation growth is a very good incentive to keep the teams together. And so far, what was promised by the management, it was delivered. And we continue to do so and we continue to grow. And this is our main focus. That's a nice way to put why I remain optimistic about them continuing and all 13 continuing with the league. Now, regarding the arena, I know Diego [Guillen d'Arlot de Saint-Saud] is the head of our competitions. He's meeting with the club. We opened this window of discussion with them last season. We are trying. We know the project. We know the dates. But we also see the stadium construction moving. I think it was supposed to be open in December. I know the goal is to start the new season there. So we understand that the stadium is first. We know the dates. I don't want to make it here, let Mr. [Joan] Laporta put it on the table, himself and the club. But again, to say what we are thinking, we are in discussions. There's the Palau Sant Jordi as well where the games can be played. It's managed by a municipality, so it's also a discussion with them. We are trying to move away from the exception that we have. And hopefully, the sooner the better.