General Director of the VTB United League Ilona Korstin on the prospects of the basketball championship

Last season in the VTB United League turned out to be the most successful in its entire history in terms of intrigue. Both semi-final series stretched to the seventh match, and the gold was won by a team from which this was not expected – UNICS. United League CEO Ilona Korstin in an interview with a Kommersant correspondent Alexander Petrov spoke about her impressions of the past season and expectations for the next one.

– At the end of the season, a lot was already said about how it turned out to be very intriguing, about how both semi-final series reached the seventh match, about the new champion in the league – UNICS. That is, in sports and organizational terms, the season was a success. But is there anything the league would like to fix? Surely there are points that require correction.

– I did not like that there were several teams that stood out from the overall picture. Yes, the level of sports confrontation has leveled off, there were many really intriguing matches, most often there were no matches in which one team won with a very large score difference. But there was, for example, “Minsk” (3 wins and 29 losses in the regular season, the worst figure in the league.— “b”). The team was clearly below the level required in the league. Astana also had problems, but then it pulled itself up. Although here I understand what their drawdown is connected with. They have a significant workload on the calendar, the team also performs in the championship of Kazakhstan. But at the end of the first stage of the championship, after which the participants were divided into two groups, there were no more such unpleasant results.

– So you are satisfied with the new regular season scheme?

— Yes, it has proved its viability.

– How well did its newcomers fit into the league – MBA and Samara?

“Of course, there were concerns about their ability to match the level of the league. But both teams performed very well. In general, the MBA got into the top 6 of the tournament in the debut season and even made Zenit nervous in the first round of the playoffs (the Moscow team lost in the confrontation with the champion of the previous season – 1: 3, three other series of the first round ended with dry victories for the favorites. — “b”). And I can say with good reason that last season was the best in the history of the league. Lots of games, almost every day, good format, intriguing play-offs. As a result, we have become much more interesting to the fans.

– Did it somehow affect the ratings of TV broadcasts?

— There is such an indicator OTS (Opportunity to See.— “b”), reflecting, roughly speaking, how many views our broadcasts could have collected with a high degree of probability. So, at the end of the season, the league has this figure of 576 million. At the same time, there were more than 1.5 thousand broadcasts. This does not happen by itself, it is evidence that the product that we offer through TV companies is in demand. A few years ago, everyone understood that CSKA, no matter what happens, is the champion. This has not happened since last season. Moreover, the same “Zenith”, which interrupted the hegemony of the army, “regular season” was very uneven. CSKA itself, striving to regain the title, stalled in the playoffs after a brilliant regular championship. Exploded at the decisive stage of the tournament, his future finalist “Lokomotiv-Kuban” … It was interesting to watch the metamorphoses of the teams.

– Has it somehow affected or will it affect the income that the league receives from contracts with television companies? In 2021, it was reported, for example, that the league would receive 40 million rubles from Match TV, a year after the contract was extended, league representatives said that the new contract was many times better than the previous one. What amounts of income from telecontracts are we talking about?

– Partners from Match TV asked to observe the principles of confidentiality regarding the parameters of the contract. But I can tell you that we actually had two offers: from Match TV and from Okko. The first proposal was indeed more interesting financially. Plus, it is important for our sponsors that we are widely represented on the federal TV channel. But there was also a time when the league itself paid TV channels for organizing broadcasts. Our journey is slow and long. At first – yes, they paid themselves, then they paid us, something like a thousand rubles, now they pay fundamentally different money. We are gradually changing the attitude of TV companies towards our product, and the process is underway. At the moment, in our communication with television, there is much more positive and pragmatism than before.

– What about the attendance of matches during the season?

“The numbers have gone up significantly. The record attendance of the season – 12 thousand spectators – fell on the celebration of the centenary of CSKA (April 14, in Megasport, the army team hosted Lokomotiv-Kuban in the first match of the semifinal series.— “b”). In general, the semi-final series and the final were marked by a full house. As for the average attendance, it amounted to 3 thousand spectators. This is almost twice as high as the previous season.

– Do you feel that clubs are still learning how to make money themselves, since attendance is growing, or do they still rely unconditionally on the support of owners and sponsors?

We are trying to get them used to it. Let’s say we have a reward system. It takes into account different parameters. The first is the actual sports result. But there is also a reward for marketing. There, the key factors are attendance and the number of tickets sold. The number of issued invitations should not exceed 30% of the total attendance. Otherwise, the club will be removed from the marketing reward pool. This happened, for example, with Zenit. We understand that all teams are afraid of empty stands, but the league did not understand the philosophy of Zenit. The team became the league champion, you need to take the bull by the horns, sell tickets, people will go to the champion’s games.

Who is the ticket sales champion? Parma, Lokomotiv, CSKA, Samara?

– Perm “Parma”. By the way, Samara also entered the top 3, despite the status of a debutant.

– Should we wait for the league to have new sponsors? Especially against the backdrop of a very exciting season.

— We communicate with many companies, but the times are not easy, and it is really difficult to find someone new. But we are working in this direction. I would also like to say that in addition to cooperation with our traditional sponsors, the league also receives income from bookmakers’ deductions. There is a discussion about the return of beer sales to the stadiums. The League participates in the development of the relevant bill and supports it. It is important for us that not only the sale of beer is allowed, but also its advertising in the arenas. At the moment, these things are not linked together. This is revenue growth potential for both the league and the clubs.