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EuroLeague doesn’t need to change its perfect right now we don’t need a Dubai team

As Euroleague fans, no, we don't need a Dubai club. It's bad for the league, it's bad for other teams, it's bad for the sport.

Rytis is 100% true in his rant.

Thanks Rytis for the reality check - at last - Donatas needed it 😂

I agree 100% with Rytis. I am sorry, I would find it depressing to watch a basketball arena filled with gender-segregated people in traditional dresses, as if we're in a nativity play - no matter how offensive this sounds, it is true. Saudi Arabia would definitely follow suit and we will end up with a joke of a league like football has become. They could invest their money in refugees instead. But that would be too humane for the middle east.

BRAVO Rytis!!!! Right to the point 🎯🎯 All that is just a cheap advertisement for Dubai and their airline company. The same example you have in cycling. They have cycling UAE team with best riders, and it much cheaper/better advert comparing to advertising on BBC or CNN, etc. IMHO, Euroleague should work on re-establishing classical derbies in Euroleage that exists for decades like one in Bologna, exYugoslav teams, another Lithuanian club, etc. It's not instant money but it's a secure long term vision.

Im with Rytis on this one

I don't think anyone in their right mind would want this

There are so many historic clubs in Europe that could join Euroleague instead. And in general cities where basketball is very popular. F.e. I think it's a shame that Thessaloniki isn't represented in the league.

You can’t say that other clubs like Serbian ones or other non share holders need to prove their merit, organizational structure, sustainability etc. and then introduce Dubai club because of the money. It’s double standards. Make up your mind what you want…

Rytis is Charles Barkley, Augustas is Kenny and Donatas is Ernie 😁… Of course, I’m 100% with Rytis. Give to Zvezda and Partizan 6 years deals and you’ll get the sponsors from Serbia that will provide you even more money… 25 mils per season is ridiculously low to completely change shape of the league we know… Actually that move might be the actual end of the league☝🏻

Rytis is absoluty correct here

Imagine flying 6 hours for an Euroleague game in a double game week. Should rather focus on solving the conflict with FIBA. Dubai won’t solve more crucial issues for the Euroleague

Its just absurd that we even have to debate Dubai.

No future for the Euroleague??? Hasn’t viewership increased like 45% this year?

100% with Rytis!!!

Sportswashing. Thank you for pointing it out.

We don’t need any other clowns in Euroleague. Especially those who don’t have any clue about basketball.

No Dubai nobody wants this sh*😤 Belgrade Derby is a must have in the Euroleague ☝🏽

As a "European" Basketball fan from Istanbul, I would Not like to see a club from somewhere that has not basketball culture. Regarding business aspect a million euro or lets say five million euro at total really does not wort it. On the other hand quality of basketball will be missed and European basketball will lose value in long run. As a basketball fan we don't need another Mirotic with 5 milion euro. I am happy with low budget but high basketball IQ team like Zalgris in a way Alba Berlin(not this season), also style of Monaco disturbs me. Also time by time my club Anadolu Efes disturbs me as well I would like to see more local players, still I think we contribute basketball here. I believe main reason that behind Euroleague clubs poor financial status is about advertising

Thanks for your time guys and for showing up such subjects. A sport becomes a show when somebody will watch it, and becomes a busynes when somebody pays for it. Another profesion. There,s way deeper sociopolitical issues about it though...

Well said Gytis

Maccabi was and it's exemption, although they shouldn't play Euroligue too, Euroleague is for European teams , we don't need Dubai or anything else , its becoming circus, we don't need NBA and trash theatre atmosphere like in half of the current sport arenas ( like in Monaco, Berlin, Lyon, Milano ) ...

Love you guys! Best channel in whole Europe

You are missing the point, basketball players are some of the most well known athletes in the world like LeBron and Steph. If Middle East countries were able to sign football players like Neymar and Cristiano, in their heads, the only thing stopping them from signing the nba superstars is a basketball team. In my opinion, this is their end goal.

Dubai is the soulless city in the world, don't be fooled by what do you see

This is the first time that I agree with Rytis.

The guy in green t-shirt is 100% right! Let's be honest Arabs are not intrasted in basketball(If it is horse races or some traditional sport that they love ok) but for them it is just one more project for their "soft power" On short term Euroleague gets more money, but long tirm it lose much more.

About Dubai theme, Donatas should really come better prepared on podcasts, Rytis wiped the floor with him on this topic.

a potential double week could be your team traveling on Tuesday in Dubai and on Thursday in Spain.

If Dubai will get the team Ryadh and Doha will be next in the queue immediately

Euroleague is a European league and it should stay that way. Having Maccabi Tel Aviv in the league is weird enough already.

If EuroLeague wants to Grow they need to Invest very easy and Work better with Fiba because they are in all the Countrys

In few years we gonna watch euroleague final Dubai vs Rhyad

He said no Sugardady Projekt but 2 min later talking about Dubai Sugardady project and Serbian Club should help them develop and get no Licence this looks very bad

Salary cap first, and only then accepting Dubai team would be more logical.

Dubai project is a farce, imo Euroleague should concentrate to promote the sport in Paris and London (the 2 biggest cities in western Europe), there isn't a culture yet (Football is too strong there) but there is real potential.

I have recently moved to Dubai and I have mixed feelings about this idea. From one side, Dubai is a very multicultural city, 89% of the population is foreign and for what I have seen there is demand for basketball and the street courts are always busy and let’s be honest, I would love to watch live an euroleague game every other week! From another side, creating a project from zero will be hard and might not get results right away but it will ve a very appealing destination for players, there are no taxes on salaries here…

We know we will be kicked out of the Euroleague; it's only a matter of time. They are also negotiating about joining the ABA league.

European league but middle eastern team? Logic left the chat

Its not just Serbian fans. I am Bulgarian and not assuring Zvezda and Partizan a place in the league is very wrong. Teams like ALBA and Asvel show no progress and are definitley Eurocup level even Champions league for ALBA. Dubai can be interesting project but sacrificing tradition for money is very wrong and that goes back to teams like ALBA and Asvel and others. The hypocricity of the EL owners is very obvious . Honestly as a true basketball fan sseeing Partizan ,Zvezda,Olympiacos,Panathinaikos, Zalgiris, Fenerbahche is a must see experience that equals no money. Keep both Serbian teams,add Dubai and London and relegate Asvel and Alba. This should make everyone happy.Pretty sure money and interest will be much higher than Alba and Asvel games. Plus those two destinations are much more attractive and wattract much more investment and people than ALBA and ASVLE ever will.

Dubai is just a quick buck for the shareholders and EL board. I can understand that EL is willing to "put up" with Alba in hopes to promote basketball in Germany, which is not only a rich country but also a big population, potential base for future talents etc... I don't think we will ever see a UAE world talent emerging from Dubai, nor we will ever see UAE caught up in some basketball fever... But it is possible that we get a EL team for washed up NBA stars, or extreme rise in EL contracts for players which will hit the likes of Zvezda, Partizan or Zalgiris the hardest... We could also see Dubai and some other team taking Serbian clubs spots in EL, which can lead to depopularization of basketball in one of the few real basketball nations in Europe...

So if we are including more asian teams, should it be renamed as EuroAsiaLeague?

Why would this Euroleague not survive?

Arabs need sportswashing and Euroleague execs need Arab money. Perfect mutualistic relationship here.

Riyadh,Jeddah,Doha,Shangai next 🥰😍😍

Personally, I think that since the beginning of the Euroleague season, it has started to change to a lower level. Inserting a play-in was completely unnecessary, no one even asked for it, just a way to squeeze as much money as possible. Now this with Dubaji is a shame. I am a fan of Partizan and I think that it is really a big disrespect for many teams who have to be not good but excellent all season in order to maybe enter or stay in the league. The part with the giving of money is just another move to make the Euroleague a bigger market and thus more "interesting" and "accessible" to the rest of the world. If this continues, we will only get another NBA league full of teams that are not there because of the quality or the fans, but because of money.

If they make the exception for this team and let a 19th in I’ll legit stop watching

Does EuroLeague Really Need Dubai Project?: NO!!!!!

Imagine baskonia players having to travel to dubai to play😂 way too long

If Dubai comes in Euroleague, it will be end of basketball and Euroleague will lose millions of fans. Instead of that I have solution to them. 1) Alba, Asvel and Maccabi(until war finish) out of league. 2)Put in Paris and London if you want new markets. 3) Bring back CSKA Moscow 4) Make league with 24 teams separated in groups 5) Force derbies and clubs with history(PAOK - Aris, Fortitudo) don't look just for money because it will have bad boomerang effect. 6) Give Partizan and Zvezda A licenses. Every true basketball fan want every year to watch best basketball derby in the world. And also they have big fan armies all around the world.

could you make a history lesson video about the FIBA-EuroLeague dispute?

Of course not

See it’s fine that Dubai doesn’t get a club but there is basketball in Dubai since the past two global nba games in the uae have been sold out twice

1 million per season is nothing

I don't get this idea of looking for other markets. Nobody outside of Europe is going to consistently watch Eurolegue games outside of maybe the Final Four (in real passionate basketball countries). Focus on Europe!

Rytis, all drinks on us when you come to Belgrade! :)

My man Rytis AKA The Slicer is correct! Dubai - too much, too risky. FIBA -Asia disagrees! Better the give them the opportunity to invest or potentially buy Euro teams, better way to bring more money in and keep the Euro geography and consistency!

Dubai is not in Europe, so no EUROleague for them!

Thank you Rytis for calling it exactly what it is, sportswashing.

This wont do good for euroleague in the long run unless they impose some kind of salary cap. Bringing teams with big money but no crowd and no basketball culture is not the right way to go forward.

Dubai has a Kafala system for workers getting treated like slaves, Rytis showed integrity while Donatas on the other hand def didn't.

No one will watch that. The team from Dubai has no history of playing in the EL. For me, it would not be an EL match. It will be a circus. I am sick of their ideas for money. #ODJEBITE

Absolutely Rytis. All about the money. What a sham

Rytis is %100 right but the reality is that money is essential to keeping the Euroleague going strong into the future. There are a lot of teams that can't compete with Real Madrid because of the resources they have but because of tradition, other clubs understand that is the way of the league. Dubai may not have the history but they do offer opportunity for growth and revenue. Let's not act like some clubs have issues in paying their players because of profit and infrastructure.

Euroleague needs enlargement to 24 teams, and it needs to be split into 2 divisions. For us Europeans it is always interesting when a new club appears in the league. EL should not be a closed league...

Thank you Rytis for your opinion. There is no sports culture in Dubai, they just doing sportswashing. It's all about the global project of making image about UAE, same as Saudis doing. Unfortunately, for many people in the World, and now we see it a lot in different EU speres, people chose money over anything and let this sportswashing happen again and again. Sad to see this tendency. It's basically a soft cultural propaganda that they do.

I don’t want Dubai mostly because of no financial protection whatsoever for the league. NBA is great because can guarantee a certain amount of equality, Europe no (domestic leagues titles are ridiculous, more interesting 3rd 4th places) and EuroLeague overcame this issues comparing clubs of similar dimension, but if they really want to get Dubai they should get first a salary cap, collective contracts, trades, etc, nothing you can do in 1 year. If Dubai comes in, I would likely switch to Fiba Champions League (or just stop following pro basketball)

More investment in Euroleague isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Shall we change the name of the league too?

No... Serbia is basket country

You are talking about basketball and every second word is money and market. But there is one good thing about that, Euroleague speed up herself end

It boggles my mind that Euroleague can’t put together a team of 4-5 people who understands sports business and European basketball culture and how to generate money enough to make this league self sustainable. This is not a rocket science.

If Euroleague allows Dubai to join it means its all about the money, they should stop milking atmosphere and passion on Partizan games and go and do that wih club from Dubai, Euroleague is showing that passion and tradition and love for the basketball comes second after the MONEY!

Sure they do. Dubai>Belgrade, cause of "stability"

I don't agree with a rich Dubai club joining the Euroleague but then again, there's Maccabi from Israel and 2 Turkish clubs in the Euroleague.

Eurocup winner gets promoted and the runner up plays with the second worst euroleague team for the spot, to keep it fresh, there is no real punishment for the bad teams now, then really every game would matter. With this kind of cycle there would be new markets to reach within Europe and this Euroasialeague fuckery isn't necessary, I know the money is not comperable, but international competions are incoherent enough in my oppinion and not well-structured like the UEFA competitons, I believe that's a big issue.

For them it's just the advertisement of how much money they have, and to us it's the way of life.... crazy Serbs ftw!

It´s a damn sandy shit hole in the middle of nowhere. And most important it´s not in Europe.I still don´t know why we have teams out of Europe in the Euroleague.

Donatas a paid actor 🤡

Dubai? No thanks 😊

Salary Cap is needed

Rytis, mate, you nailed it. Cheap advertisement, indeed.

In my opinion, ideal situation for European basketball would be something similar to UCL system. So shortly, best leagues in Europe (Endesa, Turkish, Greek, Lithuanian, ABA...) would have 1 to 3 spots guaranteed every year (based on results from lets say previous 5 years) while champions from other leagues would have an opportunity to earn their spots thought 1 or more qualifying rounds. That way, every year the league would be consisted of best teams. In current format, let's say Bayern can finish last in German League and still play in Euroleague next season, while, for example, some team from Poland can be one of the best teams in the continent but they pretty much don't have a way to qualify. Basketball is growing in popularity in Europe, and while it's not near a football level yet, if UEFA can make a fair system like that (without licensed clubs) profitable for anyone, it's probably possible for Euroleage or whatever organization that would implement this.

Consider who is gona watch those games in Dubai ? Arena could be filled with guests fans because Dubai has no fans. Look MotoGP, look Formula 1. Stands are pretty much empty, both in Doha, Abudabi and Bahrein, even though these sports are hosted there for years now. No basketball culture in these regions, no fanbase...

I'm getting tired of Dubai ruining sports with their oil money

Euroleague means european league right? The idea makes absolut 0 sense. Just create an Orientleague or Asialeague. Major boycott if this happens

Dude in the blue shirt needs a reality check

Ridiculous! Someone has to pay for the show, but they are doing well. Plus, it seems to be widely consensual that 1M€ is not that much money. Bad idea

It would ruin the sport of badketball

EUROleague, should be as euro as possible. What the hell is going on? Find sponsors by letting old clubs enter the tournament. Change the format. Grand zvezda and partizan longer contracts. Whatever it takes but in the f europe we live. Its like a serbian league to let a chinese team to enter their competition because it will bring money. Absolutely ridiculous.

How can donatas be that naive considering sports washing @ UAE and Saudi??

No

no need of asian teams.. for instance Baskonia will play against strong european teams such as panathinaikos athens, real madrid , partizan beligrade, and then will play against a team called 'Dubai Tigers' with 7 hours flight just to get there.. euroleague will lost its authenticity

It's EUROleague.

The team that is missing from Euroleague is CSKA Moscow.

And there you can see the shortsideness and idiocracy of politics: Eiroleague need new big market, money influx and etc. Well there you have CSKA from Russia, with huge market of 150 million people, and even wider if you take in concideration ex-Soviet republics. 1. That is top quallity basketball team, 2. a lot of money behind it, 3. and very real and tangible potential for marketing, TV rights etc. And CSKA is not some Frankenstein that will be patched with lot of money for short experiment, but team with tradition and strong national league behind it... So if Euroleague thinks to have a future, it have to go for French (although there is no more a lot of moeny there, there is a lot of basketball) and Russian "market", I am afraid Dubai experiment, or as they are proposing London and England, would be just short term financial patchess without any actual development or basketball benefit in there, and without any imaginable future for that experiments. I cannot see football nation of British Island ever invest in basketball even 100 part of what are they investing in football, and I don't see UAE or Saudis developing leagues and teams, it will be just short term marketing venture, that will be closed very fast because of one very important fact: arena in Dubai would be empty... They could extend or work out first several games to get a crowd, but eventually, Dubai arena will be spooky empty space during Euroleague games, as it is in Germany when they don't have guests with highly motivated funs... P. S. Even Germany is total miss. Arenas in Germany are full for Euroleague games only when Turkish or Serbian teams come, and you can see the matches where whole arena in Munich is filled with Turks or Serbs on the night that are supposed to be exclusive night for funs of domestic German team... But it seems German teams literary are uncapable to gather 20 k people for their games, even world cahampion title of National German Team did absolutely nothing to change popularity of basketball in Germany...

Dubai is not Europe, end of story

We don't give a damn about Dubai and we as fans don't care about petrol money