VTB United League honorary president Sergey Ivanov has said the pan-European club basketball competition has agreed its first-ever deal for overseas and betting broadcast rights.
Following a board meeting on Saturday, Ivanov said the deal for the 2016-17 season will be worth €1m ($1.1m) to the league, although he did not identify who has acquired the rights.
“The League has sold TV and so-called betting rights for the first time,” Ivanov said. “We're talking about foreign companies that handle bets, including electronic betting. The deal was for one million euros.”
He added: “In addition, our agreement with (Russian sports media platform) Match TV remains in effect. A minimum of 50 games will be shown on public television and the playoffs will be shown in their entirety.”
The 2016-17 VTB United League season is due to tip-off in October and will run through to June. It will feature 14 teams, compared to last season’s 16.