Euroleague CEO Jordi Bertomeu has reportedly invited 13 clubs to begin talks on the future of the Eurocup competition.
With the Euroleague becoming more exclusive than in previous years, Bertomeu has invited teams that have predominately had Euroleague experience to Barcelona in a bid to improve the Eurocup and make it relevant again.
Valencia, Unicaja Malaga, Galatasaray, ALBA Berlin, Bayern Munich, Unics Kazan, Khimki, Lokomotiv Kuban, Crvena Zvezda, Cedevita Zagreb, Dinamo Sassari, Reggio Emilia and Trento are 13 of the 24 teams that could potentially compete in the 2017-18 Eurocup season. They will be offered a rumoured three-year deal with the winner of the competition playing in the Euroleague, the season after.
To coincide with the new format of the Euroleague, which begins in the 2017-18 season, the second tier Eurocup will feature 24 teams, six more than the new Euroleague but will follow the same process of elimination.
The new 24-team Eurocup would feature four groups of six with the top four advancing to the Top 16 and a five-game quarter-final Playoff series, leading to the Eurocup Final Four.
The current Eurocup format so far is a complete free-for-all as 36 teams play out the regular season with the eliminated Euroleague teams joining in the second round of the competition, which is called the ‘Last 32’, four teams less than in the opening stages.
The knockout phases of the Eurocup are two-legged affairs, which can provide score draws or one-sided first leg scorelines, which has been the case in the last two Eurocup title games, making the spectacle as a whole, non-existent.
Talks with the 13 sides regarding the new Eurocup format will begin on Monday.
