An intercontinental expansion of European club competitions: A new reality? The case of Dubai and EuroLeague
Abstract
Euroleague is the second-best basketball league worldwide. To grow the competition, Euroleague plans to integrate a team from Dubai. The aim of this study was to meaningfully contribute to the discussion about the feasibility of this idea. Through a case study, using an exhaustive analysis of primary and secondary sources, we analyzed the peculiar nature of Euroleague, the consequences of this expansion on European basketball and the vision of Gulf countries governments regarding sport investments. We found that Dubai fits partially the conditions for Euroleague membership. Theoretically, Euroleague could become a paradigm-changing organization. Practically, it could attract interest from leagues due to this idea. However, it could affect interdependencies with other stakeholders and attract criticism due to the human rights record in Emirates. This underscores the importance of stakeholder engagement in this initiative to create lasting social change in Dubai, promoting sport as a positive force.
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References
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1. The Publication Service of the University of Murcia (the publisher) has the Publication Rights (Copyright) to the published papers and works, and favors and permits the reusing of the same under the license indicated in point 2.
© Servicio de Publicaciones, Universidad de Murcia, 2013
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3. Conditions of Self-Archiving. It is permitted and encouraged that the authors spread electronically the pre-print (before printing) and/or post-print (the revised, evaluated and accepted) versions of their papers or works before their publication since this favors their circulation and early diffusion and therefore can help increase their citation and quotation, and also there reach through the academic community.
