What Aaron Radin REALLY thinks about BBL in Europe
Exclusive thoughts from the CEO on how more games in the men’s BBL could impact those playing overseas
The Leicester Riders testing Basketball Champions League this season; the London Lions making it to the 7Days EuroCup playoffs; the Caledonia Gladiators aiming to compete in BCL next year; plus, the Bristol Flyers joining European North Basketball League – British basketball teams are laser focused on international competition.
Since becoming CEO of the men’s British Basketball League (MBBL), Aaron Radin has been optimistic about its growth and how playing overseas can feed into that.
But with the MBBL announcing a new format at the Play-off Finals event on Sunday 14 May 2023, top teams could potentially play more games than they have done this season.
This year’s regular season was already up to 36, the most since 2014-15. Even without the Cup competition in 2023-24, the extra games in the new Trophy format and the Play-offs means that the top teams could compete in 49 games, one more than the potential maximum amount this season.
Strength in numbers
We saw the busy schedule of European hoops take its toll on the Lions, who failed to win the quadruple this season due to resting their better players in the early rounds of the Trophy.
Aaron Radin told The Hoops Nerdsletter: “It’s a challenge. The teams that go to Europe need to focus on depth of squad. London, in the end, their depth of squad is what won them the Championship. If you look at their roster compared to the start of the season – no Ovie Soko, no Kosta Koufos, no Sam Dekker – their whole front line is gone but they still won because they had depth and that got them through.”
It’s not just depth, franchises need to make sure they have the resources, court time and ability to host international events. Riders coach Rob Paternostro spoke about his team’s foray into BCL this season in the post-Play-off Final press conference.
He said: “We want to make sure if we do go into any European competition that we’re ready financially. Last time we went in, I didn’t think we were. It hurt us injury-wise as well, so we want to make sure we’re ready, but, of course, if we are ready, I’d love to play.”
Paternostro also shared how he and other former players loved to idea of playing in Britain – which is something Radin is focused on.
The CEO said: “Speaking to the players, they want to play against the best, and a huge incentive for people coming to play here is because they want to play in Europe. I expect that’s going to be a regular part of what goes on for our top clubs going forward, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it spreads throughout the league.
“It’s a great opportunity to measure ourselves against the rest of the world and also expose the home fans of those clubs to competition and competitors from other countries.”
A highlight of seeing some top flight EuroCup teams visit London this season has been the way supporters follow them. Some fan bases can influence the atmosphere of the game, and display their passion in ways that might seem alien to British fans.
This is something Radin touched on. He said: “One of the things you see about Europe is the travelling fans, which is super exciting and it also creates hopefully another catalyst for our fans to get involved on a travelling basis in our league.”
Will you travel abroad to watch an MBBL team compete overseas? Comment below what team you’ll follow into Europe…
Lead image courtesy of British Basketball League