Widening of VTB United League is inevitable

General Director of VTB United League Andrey Shirokov gave an interview, in which he summed the results of the first season up and told us about the future prospects of the Tournament.

— «I think, we can say it easily: the first season of VTB United League has been successful and the Tournament has justified itself», — Andrey Shirokov says. — «We had sports intrigue and there was the interest from the fans’ side during this Tournament. The stands were choke-full with spectators in such cities as Kaunas, Donetsk, Mariupol; rather high attendance was observed in Tallinn. You could also remember the house was full at the opening game between CSKA and «Zalgiris» in Moscow. The Final Four is worthy notice. Culmination of the season in Kaunas was a real basketball feast. It was a fascinating, exciting and unpredictable Final Four, where really strongest teams of the League participated. I would like once again to thank «Zalgiris» from Kaunas for the bright organization of the final tournament, and, special thanks for Lithuanian fans for the unique atmosphere which was created in «Sporthalle».

— You couldn’t disagree that the Final Four has showed that Russian Basketball Clubs, even the leading ones, have a model to follow.

— I see two teaching moments there and I hope that most of our clubs will take on board the example of Kaunas. Firstly, we found once again how the quantity of spectators and quality of their support can influence the results of the game. Secondly, -and it`s very important in the modern economic conditions — «Zalgiris» proved the possibility of organization of a high-quality basketball show for the reasonable money.

— What are the basic advantages in the League at the moment, according to your opinion? What are the differences between VTB United League and other European club сcompetitions?

— VTB United League is the one of that little number of European Leagues which pay the premium bonuses for every game. I would like to remind you that the prize money was a million rubles per game in the completed season. The insurance system is one more advantage of our League, -to my mind, it is the best on the continent. I think that we are the closest to NBA taking in this component. I would like to distinguish qualitative and competent officiating: we managed to escape the conflicts between the teams and the referees. Besides the above-mentioned factors, the organizing of the TV broadcasting is one more advantage of the League. The games of VTB United League 2009/2010 were covered by the leading TV broadcasting companies of five countries. We made everything what we planned; there is no need to blush after the closing of the season. But still it is also too early for us to be proud of something special. The hardest steps are waiting for the League in the future.

— I wonder how has the title sponsor of the League, VTB Bank management, appreciated the first season?

— I think that it would be better to put this question to the representatives of VTB. They were following the Tournament events for the whole season and they honored The Final Four with their presence. It would be inconsistently for me to give any comments on behalf of VTB management. As I have heard that the management of our title sponsor was very impressed by the season in general as well as by the Final Four in particular.

— Meanwhile there surely were some problems during the first season? Which ones you could point out?

— The lack of the sports market in all countries-participants is the only problem for the development of the League which I see (this is true for almost every kind of sport in Russia, except football). We were aware of this fact before the start of the season. What do I mean? It is almost full absence of the market mechanisms, which are necessary for the successful functioning of every professional sports league. We have to create them now in order market will run properly, and in prospect the League will be profitable. Profitable factors are known: ticket sales, sale of rights for TV broadcasting, advertising involvement. Up to date the part of these factors is inappreciable in all countries-participants of VTB United League.

— Consequently, one should not speak about covering of expenses.

— Unfortunately, it`s a matter of fact. As I have already mentioned, we cannot sale rights for TV broadcasting in Eastern Europe , like Euroleague manages to do in Western Europe, and it`s a great problem for us. Nevertheless we are making progress in this direction and we are staring to sale TV and Internet broadcasting rights. Although it brings us only symbolic money and we sale rights not to Eastern Europe countries generally. Though before the start of the season we realized that it would be impossible to earn considerable money from that, that’s why we preferred to work with the TV companies which guaranteed a maximum audience and a maximum promotion of VTB United League as a brand name on their channel. We fulfilled this plan for 100 percent.
Besides, I would like to remind you once again that we didn’t have an opportunity to sell tickets for games for good money. Meanwhile there are some exceptions. In Kaunas this is a plus item of the club’s budget. Though the income from the ticket sales is minimum for the whole basketball community. Far and by there remain some problems and it is impossible to solve them within a year. In spite of these factors we are trying to keep our spirit and we are beginning to start necessary mechanisms and to lay a foundation step by step. I believe that it is real to achieve total payback of the League sooner or later by developing of the basketball market.

— It is known that the popularity of basketball, and correspondingly, the attendance of the games, is different in different countries-participants of VTB United League. Taking into account this fact, what is the development strategy of the League?

— Sure, it is worthless to deny that the attendance of basketball games is higher in Lithuania than in our country. And I marked it more than once that the attendance of the games is best index for Russian professional basketball. Clubs and the League itself should work with the fans and not let it take its course. The fans support can make the team play better, give the players additional power and energy, and become an excellent spur for the achievement of higher results. That’s why we have said before the season started that if due to the Tournament we could increase the attendance of the games in Moscow, Khimki and Kazan — it would be a great achievement.

— By the way, let’s talk about Moscow. If you analyze the situation in the capital, what are the reasons which prevent people from going to basketball competitions?

— We have analyzed this situation. There is one repulsive moment for the basketball as well as for ice-hockey fans. When the games are held during the week people have to struggle with heavy Moscow traffic. It is the most important problem which prevents the spectators from going to games. Meanwhile it is not the only one. For example, there is not such heavy traffic in Kazan as in Moscow, but the stands are not full with the spectators like it used to be.

— The decline of the fans` interest in Kazan obviously puts us on our guard...

— Surely, we would be very glad if the attendance were higher in Kazan «Basket-hall», especially, taking into account the fact that UNICS had overplayed CSKA in Superleague and won the 2nd place in VTB United League. I would like to believe that this team will return the fans to the stadium, as they managed to do three or four years ago. The Kazan fans of that time were the most positive factor in Russian basketball, they gave to the players such support that everybody was pleased with watching the game irrespectively of the course of the game. It would solve a great number of problems if such atmosphere would be created at all sports arenas.

— What are the prospects of VTB United League next season? How will the Tournament format be changed?

— Before speaking about the future of the League and its format we should confirm the budgets for the next and the following seasons. After it we are going to discuss the concrete details. The plan of the League’s development has been existed for a long time. In accordance with this document we are going to play in the current format to the end of the Olympic cycle and then we are going to change and to widen the Tournament system. But as a result of this season we have more and more clubs that play in the Tournament and want to join it. There arises a question: shouldn’t we force this plan of development? We are going to have consultations for the next month or for a month and a half, then we’ll make a final decision about the prospects at the Board of the League. But even now we can already assert that the number of participants of the Tournament will increase. Widening of the League is inevitable next season, as we have five requests for the participation, and they come from foreign clubs only.

— Could you name clubs or at least countries interested in the Tournament participation?

— I would not like to speak about the clubs as all the details haven’t been settled yet. I can only half open a veil of mystery and say that besides the countries-participants of the League, we have three more requests from other countries, which have not taken part in it this season. The new candidates to VTB United League are Poland, Israel and Belarus. We are to have further negotiations with them, but we are pleased with the fact of such interest to our League.

— Are there any conditions which influence on the accepting of the team in VTB United League?

— Sure, there are some special requirements. For example, if we speak about Belarus, we should have the clear understanding if a strong basketball club will appear there. The level of a potential participant should be as high as the level of VTB United League teams. It is the essential factor, as we assign primary importance to the sports principle.

— Taking into account the situation with the Ukrainian BC "Donetsk«- one of the participants of the current season- which dissolved unexpectedly, should the clubs give any financial guarantees to the League?

— We should examine this problem. Nowadays we speak about the strongest clubs of Eastern Europe, which participate or will participate in this project. It is obvious that we loose clubs in our countries, but we can’t call them strong. As I remember, such cases happened four or five times for the last ten years, as far as it is concerned with the leading clubs. It is force majeure indeed, so you are not guaranteed against loss regardless of any guarantees. And the story which happened to BC «Donetsk» could be called force majeure.

— Will the prize money be changed next season of VTB United League or the players will continue to struggle for one million rubles in every game?

— It depends on the Tournament format. In case of its widening, we hardly will be able to pay one million per game. If there are be some changes then, possibly, clubs will get their prize money only after the finishing of the season. In case the format will be the same or alike the current one, everything will remain as it used to be in the first season. We certainly will take into consideration recommendations of our title sponsor. Speaking about the future of the League it is necessary to point out the role of VTB in its fate. Cooperating with such a respectable partner as VTB, which is strongly interested in the development of the project, we should not worry about the future.