The colorful images remain in memory: how the players of the newly crowned cup winners Bayern Munich pass on the trophy in the golden confetti shower. It was a big basketball festival ten months ago, the BMW Park was packed with 6,500 spectators, world champion Dennis Schröder came and gave the German Cup top four a dose of NBA shine. The organizer organized a “Night of Legends” for the occasion and set up a “Hall of Fame” in the area surrounding the hall, intended as an impetus for a German basketball hall of fame. An idea that was expressly welcomed by Stefan Holz, managing director of the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL).
All in all, the tournament was a successful spectacle worthy of the World Champion League, professionally organized and appropriately supported by the media. This is the claim of the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), which always wants more attention, and rightly so given its constantly improving product. But now the location for the final tournament next February has been announced; it is – somewhat surprisingly – Weißenfels. There is absolutely nothing to be said against that, the Central German BC based there is firmly on course for the playoffs. So why not organize a season highlight in the East to do a little more for the fan base there?
The BBL recently assigned the cup finals to the neutral location in Düsseldorf from 2027, which is also a good idea, the PSD Bank Dome has a capacity of 12,000 spectators, and the catchment area gives hope that the hall there will also be full. Until then, according to the BBL’s idea, the two remaining finals should each go to one of the participants. However, the award process shows how short-sighted those responsible once again acted. The planned move to Leipzig is canceled because the hall there has long been occupied. This also applied to the previously favored locations of Bamberg and Frankfurt, both of which were also blessed with the necessary infrastructure.
The demands of the BBL on the organizer are not insignificant
The fourth finalist, FC Bayern, submitted a longer-term concept for the SAP Garden from 2026, which the BBL did not accept. And when asked to organize the event in the park at short notice, as in the previous year, the busy people of Munich politely declined in view of strained resources in the run-up to Christmas and the New Year, as well as the ad hoc request that again seemed less than professional.
The favorite to host the event was Heidelberg, but the surprise league leaders were eliminated in the quarter-finals at the MBC. So that left the Weißenfels town hall, which can accommodate 3,000 spectators. The town with a population of 40,000 is also likely to have its limits; the BBL requires a hotel in which all teams can fit, and a lavish press room for discussions with several protagonists from all four teams. In addition, the league has demanded a six-figure fee in the past, which the organizer can hardly compensate for with tickets given the existing hall capacity.
You can give the MBC a chance and look forward to a smaller basketball festival than in Munich, but it remains to be said that the BBL itself should set a good example in all its demands for more professionalism from the clubs. Incidentally, nothing happened in terms of the Hall of Fame for a year.
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