Euroleague Basketball has announced that the 2019 edition of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four will be held in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.
It will be the first time that Vitoria-Gasteiz, the home city of one of the EuroLeague’s signature teams, KIROLBET Baskonia, hosts the event. Nevertheless, the venue for the 2019 Final Four – the 15,000-plus seat Buesa Arena – has been home to numerous first-class events, such as the Spanish Copa del Rey and the 2010 EuroCup Finals, among others.
“Vitoria-Gasteiz and Baskonia’s truly loyal fan base has been waiting a long time to host the Final Four,” Jordi Bertomeu, Euroleague Basketball President & CEO, said. “This is a well-deserved recognition for a city that lives and breathes basketball like few others.”
“It’s a dream that we have chased for many years and now it is coming true,” Baskonia president Josean Querejeta said. “The 2019 Final Four will put Vitoria-Gasteiz, Alava and the Basque Country on the world map.”
Querejeta also thanked the Basque institutions and Mr. Bertomeu “for the trust they put in us. The arrival of the most important event in European basketball means recognition for a club that will be turning 60 in 2019 and a city and territory that breathes basketball through all its pores.”
“The Basque Country is a territory that is accustomed to organizing events at the highest international level related to culture, sports and business,” the institutions that will collaborate in the organization of the Final Four — the City Council of Vitoria-Gasteiz, the Provincial Council of Alava and the Basque Government — said in a joint statement by Mr. Gorka Urtaran, Mayor of Vitoria-Gasteiz; Mr. Ramiro Gonzalez, the Prime Minister of the Government of Álava; and Mr. Bingen Zupiria the Minister of the Culture and Language Policy of the Basque Government.
“We have demonstrated a great capability not only to host events but to spread enthusiasm about those events among our citizens. For that reason, we can assure that the Basque Country, the territory of Álava, and the city of Vitoria-Gasteiz, where there exists a great passion for basketball, will give their best to make the 2019 Final Four a great success. This event will give us the opportunity to show to the world an advanced, cohesive Basque Country that is full of beautiful places and very interested in culture and sport.”
Tickets for the event will be available at the official channels during the last quarter of 2018.
About the Final Four
The Final Four is the final phase of the EuroLeague, to which the four best teams qualify after playing a 30-round regular season and best-of-five playoffs. At the Final Four, they compete in single-elimination semifinals, a third-place game and the championship game to decide the European club champion each season. The Final Four is the ultimate celebration of European basketball and has become a reference point among major sports events, with broadcasts to more than 200 countries and territories across the globe. Aside from the games, the Final Four offers a broad variety of extra events, including the biggest FanZone in European basketball, the U18 Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament, press conferences, business summits, and the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Awards Ceremony, where the best players of the season are recognized.
About Euroleague Basketball
Euroleague Basketball is a global leader in the sports and entertainment business, devoted to delivering superior European club leagues under a unique and innovative organizational model. Owned and managed by some of the most successful and historic clubs in the world, EB manages the continent’s two premier men’s basketball competitions, the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and 7DAYS EuroCup, as well the sport’s premier under-18 showcase, the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next generation Tournament. Euroleague Basketball competitions bring the elite of European basketball to all five continents with broadcasts in over 200 countries and territories, and to the entire sports community through its OTT platform EuroLeague TV. EB also organizes a series of community and educational programs. Its ground-breaking corporate social responsibility program One Team features 40 clubs that have already made a difference in the lives of more than 14,000 participants. Its Sports Business MBA trains future professionals in sports management.
