Maccabi Tel Aviv is very disappointed that they are reaching the last line of the regular season without a chance of qualifying for the playoffs, and the main difficulty is finding the energies to remain competitive until the end. When at the sporting level there is not too much to play for, the motivation now can come from a more strategic source – money. Following a significant change in the structure of financial compensation in the Euroleague, there is now a new goal for the Yellows: to finish among the top 14.
In previous seasons, each Euroleague victory yielded about 40,000 euros from the Euroleague’s overall marketing agreement. Last season, in which Maccabi recorded 19 victories, this constituted a very important budget share of about NIS 3 million. But this year, following the Corona, the Euroleague management decided to change the structure of the reward and cancel, only for this season, the reward for each victory. According to one of the decisions, only the teams that finish in the first 14 places will receive an additional grant, of 150,000 euros. A team that finishes out of 14 will not be eligible for the grant. And here’s another reason for the Yellows to try to stay at least in their current position (14).
The sports channel also learned that the Euroleague board has decided to implement a plan according to which 79% of the funds will be distributed according to the broadcasting rights agreements, and 21% according to sporting achievements. As is well known, each of the 11 armored groups has a different broadcasting rights agreement with different networks, so the amount varies according to the same agreements. The other 21% will be divided according to the final positions in the regular season, with the teams that qualified for the playoffs receiving a significantly larger share than those who did not, from those 150,000 euros, to 650,000 for the team that qualifies for the Final Four, and 1.5 million euros for the team that finishes the regular season in first place.
In Greece, surgeons: Maccabi was negligent on the psychological side
Meanwhile, the Greek “Gazetta” magazine published an in-depth article about the failure of Maccabi this season. In an article by Vasilis And LachopoulosEntitled “The Maccabi Case: The Medium and Weaknesses in Money Time,” an analysis is made of the psychological failure that led to losses in so many close games: “If the club had invested resources on the psychological side the moment the losses began to pile up, the team might have been elsewhere.” However, the author emphasizes that the poor preparation that resulted from the “insistence on finishing the Israeli league at all costs” took a heavy toll on the Israeli champion when it came to preparing for the 20/21 season.
On the economic side, it is written: “Whoever was considered a group of the state in Israel lost a potential income of 10 million euros from the sale of subscriptions and tickets following the plague. This is reflected in the fact that the teams had very limited options in signing players of the highest level, so they were content with Maccabi with cheap substitutes. “
At the professional level, the article praises Maccabi’s ability to retain most of last season’s players, but kills it on the acquisitions, especially Dragan Bender and Ante Zizic. But most of the criticism is directed at the lack of creativity in the basketball of Yannis Sapropoulos and the clear retreat in the ability of Scotty Wilbkin in the second round. The summary reads: “Yannis Sapropoulos will start next season with full confidence, and changes will be made for sure, the question is how many.”
