VTB United League General Manager Ilona Korstin told about the approved schedule and the 2023/24 season format:
– The new United League season will start at the end of September with the SuperCup, where teams will test their strengths and make final preparations before the start of the season.
The 2023/24 season has a very full schedule, but it will be balanced. The regular season starts on September 30 in Kazan, with UNICS and Loko game.
The games of the regular season first stage are scheduled to be almost every day, along with a few games on the weekends due to teams requests. The fans like to come to games in the weekends. For our part, we want to increase the attendance and that’s why we support the idea.
The format for the regular season will remain the same: the teams will be divided into 2 groups (places 1-6 and 7-14) and play each other after the first stage. Besides that, there will be a new stage in the 2023/24 season – the play-in. In this mini-tournament, the Top-4 teams from Group 2 will fight for the remaining 2 Playoffs spots.
Interestingly, we adopted the play-in format at the League Council on May 24, and then the Euroleague at its General Assembly on July 4, in which I also participated, proposed a similar format for the 7-8 places, which was unanimously approved.
Next season the League will increase the number of participating clubs to 14. There will be 268 games in the regular season and up to 46 more in the Playoffs. The Quarterfinals and the 3rd Place Series will be up to 3 wins, while the Semifinals and the Finals will be up to 4 games. Due to Uralmash and Runa have joined the league, there will be more games and the season will end later, in June.
The VTB United League All-Star Game, which will traditionally be in February, is also in schedule.
