On Thursday, September 22, VTB Arena hosted a press conference dedicated to the opening of the budgets of the 2021/22 season participating clubs of the 2021/22 season. The VTB United League Honorary President Sergey Ivanov, President Sergey Kushchenko and the General Manager Ilona Korstin took part in it.
As for the budget, CSKA is the leader— 2 billion 808 million rubles. Zenit (2 billion 430 million rubles) and Lokomotiv-Kuban (1 billion 333 million rubles) are in the Top-3, UNICS (1 billion 252 million rubles), Pari Nizhny Novgorod (359 million rubles), PARMA-PARI (310 million rubles), Enisey (245 million rubles) and Avtodor (189 million rubles).
The VTB United League Honorary President Sergey Ivanov:
– We remain the only sports league in Russia that opens the budgets of the teams. We will firmly insist that participating in the League Russian clubs include their budgets reveal. There have been no major changes compared to previous years. I would like to note that all clubs have increased revenues from ticket sales.
The VTB United League President Sergey Kushchenko:
– Match TV is our long-standing partner, and this season the negotiations were quick and constructive. At the first steps, we agreed to increase the contract and to increase the number of Category A games – there will be at least 35. The TV channel also takes over the the VTB League All-Star Game and the VTB League Super Cup broadcast production. The terms we have agreed are very satisfactory to us. This is a big step forward for everyone. Match TV is our partner for the next 3 years.
In my opinion, the League provides clubs with opportunities to develop their own youth academies. And in the form of bonuses, the club will get young players, this is an investment in future. Lokomotiv Kuban has built a very good academy, there are sports schools in Perm, St. Petersburg, Moscow. And now, this season, it’s time to see how these youth programs work.
The VTB United League General Manager Ilona Korstin:
– The League’s budget has grown, firstly, due to the signing of a contract with Olimpbet, which exceeds the previous League’s contract with Fonbet by 5 times. There is an article other expenses – we took advantage of the situation and put a certain amount on deposits, earning a sufficient amount. We also received income from the bookmaker mandatory payments, because now part of the payments for basketball goes to the VTB League.
How will we spend this budget? We have changed the format of the tournament, there will be 40% more games and this brings certain expenses. For example, spending on refereeing will increase by 60%. You know that only Russian referees will work in the tournament and the League pays them a salary for each game, as well as pays for food, accommodation and relocation. A significant part of the costs is the production of a TV signal: Match TV takes over the organization of broadcasts of category A games and the League organizes broadcasts of category B and C games and here the costs will also increase.
In addition, we understand that a certain part of the referees do not have much experience in serious games and we must help them raise their level. We are organiznig seminars and planning to create the Leauge’s training program and a refereeing school. We also hire several employees in the refereeing department who will do games analysis and send it to the referees.
