MARKETING MANAGEMENT & DIGITAL } ON COURT RIVALS, OFF COURT PARTNERS for their own duty of care, working with their agent and player associations (for example the EuroLeague Players Association are starting to provide more and more support for current and former EuroLeague players) to ensure that the player is in contact with a qualified psychologist, nutritionist, strength & conditioning coach, personal development coach, sports medicine doctor when needed… Clubs have a duty of care, but the transient nature of the players market makes their support group that much more important. Euroleague Basketball currently co-organise a blended learning Sports Business MBA with the Vytautas Magnus University in Lithuania. Can you please explain a little more about the program, and how it fits into the overall Euroleague Basketball philosophy of developing the professionals working inside clubs and the league?
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In European basketball clubs and league, historically we have lacked expertise in key management positions. It is only quite recently that highly qualified individuals are beginning to work in senior management roles in European sports organisations. On this topic we must recognise that in the US both the academic approach of offering specialised sports business undergraduate and postgraduate degrees for decades, as well as the club ownership mentality that professional sports must generate profit create a different scenario than in Europe. We need to have quality leaders in clubs and leagues, who in turn are coaching, mentoring, and educating their respective colleagues. In 2007 Euroleague Basketball launched a blended learning Master in Sports Marketing and Communication, which today has evolved to a Sports Business MBA, with a total of 251 alumni from 39 different countries around the world. 19 of these are working fulltime at the league office, with