Patrick Comninos kicks off the new season of #BCLPodcast

On 24 teams and as many different countries represented in BCL Qualifications:

We must offer the opportunity of participation to every champion. This is why we are the Champions League. This is one of our key principles, which is inclusiveness. [Qualifications are] a stage where all these champions that might not otherwise have the chance can compete at the highest level.

Last night (September 13) we started our Qualifications. We have our first teams that won; we also have the first teams that lost. Part of the biggest pleasure is to receive the emails this afternoon from a couple of clubs that lost. They lost last night but were very thankful for the opportunity. In the end, this is the only way they will grow; this is the only way they get exposure.

On bringing play-in back:

We effectively modified the format from last year to make it even more competitive. In addition to the play-in, we also have the group winners going directly into the Round of 16. This means the group winners are truly rewarded.

Eight third-place finishers are now given a second chance. It means that even when a team is 4th after the first couple of games can still strive to finish 3rd and have a chance to qualify.

On the increasing number of games and the possibility of even more:

Right now, we need to evaluate this format closely. We believe less is more. Having fewer games in a competition might allow for more competitive games. Just having games for the sake of having games is not necessarily attractive to the fans or sponsors.

Also, we do not want to antagonize the domestic leagues. We want the participation of BCL to complement the domestic leagues; we do not want teams to have an exhaustive European campaign. Around 18 to 20 European games for the very best clubs are good to have.

On a hypothetical merger between EuroCup and BCL:

I will tend to agree. Right now, the state of affairs in European basketball does not allow for great commercial growth, firstly because of the market saturation but also because of the confusion. If you’re an average fan, it’s difficult to explain why [teams travel] from competition to competition. It’s a complicated state of affairs. We have made proposals on how European basketball should be structured and developed to benefit the entire ecosystem. We hope that these discussions will continue. Down the road, we will have the opportunity to revisit this complicated situation.