The VTB United League General Director Ilona Korstin summarized the results of the League Board Meeting after her re-election:
– I would like to thank Sergei Ivanov, the clubs and the League Board for their trust. We’ve reported on the previous 4-year period today. It is nice to see the progress and growth. There is an increase of fans, social media coverage, attendance and broadcasts. You can see that the League is growing, and of course it’s very pleasing. Hopefully we will continue to grow at the same pace in the next 4 years.
We didn’t want to reduce the amount of games, and since we will have fewer teams next season, we are doing 4 rounds. The League teams will playe with each other 2 games at gome and 2 on the road. The Play-In remains – we realized that this is a format that is interesting for both teams and fans. Firstly, it increases the number of games for the 6 teams of the bottom and draws attention to this part of the season, as well as gives teams a chance to qualify for the Playoffs.
Prize money in the League is not only distributed on a sporting basis. We also have a marketing part – we encourage clubs to develop in this direction. In the 2023/24 season, the winner of the marketing championship was PARMA. We have many criteria, but the main ones are attendance and the number of tickets sold, and according to these indicators the Perm team was the best in the season. We plan to equalize bonuses for clubs for marketing and sports championships in the future.
As for the All-Star Game, it will be in Moscow on February 16. Every year we try to surprise the fans and come up with something creative.
