The Best is Yet to Come – Jordi Bertomeu, Euroleague CEO & President

It’s a pleasure to be given this opportunity by iSportconnect to speak to you, its readers, people who are part of the sports industry.

The current Turkish Airlines Euroleague season is proving once again to be full of passion, and we can’t wait to celebrate another Final Four, this coming May in Madrid, that will offer our fans an unforgettable experience.

What’s more, this is a special season, because it’s the 15th since we created Euroleague Basketball in June of the year 2000.

These 15 years have seen the enthusiasm of our clubs to manage their competition carry us through difficulties and constantly tackle new and bigger goals. The results fill us with pride and with hope.

Pride for the progress our competition has made in helping to grow the popularity of basketball.

That progress is reflected in the 52% more games our clubs offer their fans; also in 32 new or renovated arenas that have doubled the seating capacity in the Euroleague and allowed us to grow attendance by 250 percent to a total of 2.8 million spectators.

It’s reflected also in a growth in the television coverage of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague from 15 countries and territories in 2000 to 201 this season; and in a strong digital presence that boasts an accumulated audience of over 1.8 billion fans.

The product continues to be the same – elite basketball – but our clubs have clearly made great gains in its presentation and distribution.

As in all sports, the quality of the basketball product and its promotion are the basis for building sustainable business and growth.

During a time when the sports market has faced complex problems, our business has grown more than 350% in these 15 years, and our family of sponsors has diversified to  include such brands as Turkish Airlines, bwin, Adidas, Spalding, EFES Pilsener 2k and New Era, who permit our league to enjoy a stable and solid budget structure.

This has been the result of a risky bet made by the most important clubs in European basketball when they took control of their competition, built strong platforms for promotion and attracted sponsors ready to trust in Euroleague Basketball – all to bring this great sport to more fans.

If pausing to look back and analyze a path that was travelled is always beneficial, it should never lead to nostalgia and complacency.

We must always have our thoughtsfocused on the future, on how to improve and to keep growing even stronger.

And here is where I have the conviction that our expectation of a brilliant future for basketball is justified, that we are in the best position to make the next steps, to accelerate growth and to show that the best is yet to come.

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Jordi Bertomeu Orteu has been the CEO of Euroleague Basketball from July 2000, its Chairman since 2009 and its President since 2011.

Jordi Bertomeu earned a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Barcelona.

From its inception in March 1982 he developed tasks as Legal Advisor and Secretary General of the Spanish Basketball Clubs Association (ACB), in December 1994, he was appointed ACB Vice-president until July 2000, when he was named CEO of Euroleague Basketball.

Mr. Bertomeu was also member of the “Spanish Governmental Commission of the transformation of Basketball and Football clubs into incorporated sports companies”, “Member of the Executive Committee of the Spanish Basketball Federation” for 12 years as well as arbitrator for the Spanish Olympic Committee on the Court of Arbitration for Sport from October 1997.

Jordi’s