Why aren’t BBL teams competing in Europe? With Russell Levenston – Ep. 54

By Sam Neter on May 14, 2020

For episode 54 of the Hoopsfix Podcast, we took an in depth look at why more British basketball teams aren’t competing in Europe, speaking with Russell Levenston to focus on the Leicester Riders’ experience in the 2018-19 season when they played in the Basketball Champions League and FIBA Europe Cup.

Levenston is the Riders’ Managing Director, having got involved with the club in 2007, becoming a co-owner of the club alongside Kevin Routledge.

The Leicester Riders’ became the first BBL team to compete in Europe in over 11 years when they entered the Basketball Champions League qualifiers in 2018-19, going 0-2 against Danish powerhouse Bakken Bears to drop down into the FIBA Europe Cup where they were unable to pick up a win in six attempts.

Before the Riders, it was Guildford Heat in 2007-8 that last competed in Europe, in a move that almost ended up bankrupting the club. But the UK has a rich history of British teams playing in Europe, most notably in the 1995-1996 BBL season there were no less than six teams competing on the continent – why is this no longer happening?

In this 1 hour and 15 minute episode, hear from Russell on:

His background and how he ended up at the Leicester Riders
Why the Riders wanted to go into Europe
The cost and extra budget required to be able to compete on the continent
How they funded the cost
Media coverage of their European experience and how hard it was to generate interest
How they approached roster make up and why continuity was a focus
Some GB stars the Riders were close to signing prior to their European campaign
Fan interest, the challenge of mid-week games and the need to educate fans
The grueling schedule and balancing Europe with BBL games
How injuries plagued the team but the team was able to remain competitive
If they lost money on entering the European competition
Why more teams aren’t competing in Europe compared to years past
The biggest learnings the Riders are now implementing in their domestic programme
Whether the Riders have plans to re-enter European competition
The impact of COVID-19 on the BBL at the moment
Who he thinks will be the next BBL team in Europe
Whether or not he can see a situation where we end up with a EuroLeague franchise in London
And much, much more!

Follow @RidersMD on Twitter and Instagram @RidersMD.

The show has been approved on iTunes – find it here and please subscribe to automatically receive new episodes straight to your phone/computer/tablet – if you could give us a review/rating it would be much appreciated to help the podcast spread far and wide, meanwhile it is also on Spotify here, Overcast, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts.

You can support Hoopsfix’s work in helping to grow British basketball on Patreon.

Do you like our work?

We have a tiny favour to ask. In 2018 we set out to make Hoopsfix sustainable by building our relationship directly with our readers. Up until now, Hoopsfix has been creating editorials, videos and podcasts to provide sorely missing coverage of the British game and its distinct culture and community.

We have funded Hoopsfix with our freelance work creating basketball media, but sadly that means not only does it fall behind our client’s priorities, but some of those clients are the same organisations we need to report objectively on putting us in a conflicted position.

We want to devote more time to our mission of helping British basketball reach its potential, and produce even more content for the basketball community by making Hoopsfix a sustainable 100% independent business funded directly by our readers through Patreon.

If everyone who enjoys our content chose to support us, our future would be much more secure. For as little as $3 per month, you can support Hoopsfix – and it only takes a minute.

We are tremendously honoured and humbled to have a community of people who value what we do, and we look forward to being at the forefront of the British game as it continues to evolve.

Support Hoopsfix