London Loses Euroleague Final Four as Milan Announced as 2014 Hosts - Hoopsfix.com

London Loses Euroleague Final Four as Milan Announced as 2014 Hosts

It’s official: the Euroleague Final Four will not be returning to London next year, after it has been announced that Milan, Italy, will be the 2014 hosts.

The original deal for the 2013 Euroleague Final Fours included an option for 2014 which, originally, was expected to be picked up, but after the event saw a half empty arena for some games and a general lack of interest from British media with no games being televised on free to air TV, the Euroleague has declined to return.

“Milan comes after London hosting the 2013 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four last May, which has been evaluated by Euroleague Basketball and co-host AEG as a successful event for its common objective of growing basketball awareness in the United Kingdom,” said the Euroleague in a statement released today. “The signature event in European basketball not only was enjoyed by UK fans during games at The O2, but also among other places, such as the biggest sports event ever held in Trafalgar Square, the Final Four Fan Zone.

“Euroleague Basketball, together with AEG and other local organizations such as the BBL and the City of London, will continue their common efforts to keep on investing in the growth of the sport in the United Kingdom through a series of initiatives already started last May, such as One Team, One London and its collaboration with the BBL Foundation, while studying new opportunities that may bring other events to the territory and a potential Final Four in the future.”

Euroleague CEO Jordi Bertomeu gave this year’s London event a very positive evaluation, however, fans complained about the pricing structure of tickets, many members of the media were unhappy with the general organisation and set up of the event, and the weather and high costs of doing anything in London all brought criticism.

Thoughts?

3 Comments

  1. Pingback: 2014 U OF L FINAL FOUR TICKETS

  2. Pingback: 2014 FINAL FOUR NETWORK

  3. Pingback: 2014 FINAL FOUR IN NEW ORLEANS

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *