ECA Shareholders Executive Board meets in Athens

On Tuesday, the Euroleague Commercial Assets (ECA) Shareholders Executive Board met in Athens, Greece to review the progress of the EuroLeague and to align key strategic decisions.

The meeting started with Jordi Bertomeu, Euroleague Basketball President & CEO, congratulating the clubs for the 20th anniversary of their organization, a milestone that will be celebrated with different activities throughout the season. Mr. Bertomeu also provided attendees with relevant information on the current status and recent development of the competition, namely:

All-time record figures in EuroLeague attendance and ticket sales revenues, with 15% and 3% year-on-year increases, respectively.
Global broadcast coverage including new agreements and renewals in the former Yugoslavia, Greece, Spain, Turkey, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Indonesia, Philippines and Poland.
Continuous digital footprint growth, highlighted by a 6% growth in EuroLeague.net unique users and 19% growth in page views; remarkable growth in social media engagement, ranging from 57% to 196%, depending on the platform; and 193% growth in potential reach on third-party digital media outlets.
Report on collective approach and the latest activity around innovation and digital transformation, including future plans to grow individual and collective efforts in this area. An agreement was reached to create a new company that will focus entirely on strengthening the league's efforts to identify opportunities in this field and create synergies and processes between all EuroLeague clubs.
Status update on relationships with key stakeholders, including the creation of the Euroleague Basketball Dispute Resolution Chamber to resolve contract termination disputes between clubs and head coaches, in agreement with the EuroLeague Head Coaches Board (ELHCB).

Executive Board members agreed to continue defining the principles and roadmap for a transition towards increasing the stability of the EuroLeague through increasing the number of long-term licensed clubs.

The clubs also approved several business initiatives:

New Arena Customer Experience Standards to be implemented league-wide starting 2020-21, including a game-day staff training program to assist clubs and their arenas in meeting required service standards to deliver a quality experience to all EuroLeague fans.
Moving the annual Euroleague Basketball Business Summit to spring with the next edition to be held on 9-10 March 2020 in Istanbul, Turkey; maintaining the goals to share and align club, league and partner strategies, and partners, as well as sharing best practices, knowledge and networking opportunities.
Execution of collective licensing and e-commerce plans starting in 2020.

The Executive Board members reviewed the 2018-19 financial closing and the 2019-20 budget of Euroleague Ventures, the commercial joint venture between Euroleague Basketball and IMG. The company has projected a year-on-year revenue increase of 15.7%. Finally, the attendees reviewed the draft 2020-21 and 2021-22 Euroleague Basketball competition calendars.

Nielsen Sports & Entertainment executives attended the meeting to provide attendees with key insights around research and the importance of data for effective decision-making. Representatives from Amazon senior management also were present to share information on how to digitally expand the reach of the EuroLeague through technology for the benefit of fans anywhere in the world.

All will be presented for formal approval at the next ECA Shareholders Meeting.