Goodbye to the Jeep Elite. The top category of men’s basketball in France will change its name. The contract for him naming of the tournament, signed between the National Basketball League (LNB) and the Jeep brand, concludes at the end of this season and will not be renewed, informs The Team.
In March 2018, the LNB signed a three-and-a-half season sponsorship agreement with the automotive company whereby the first division of French basketball, the Pro A, became the Jeep Elite.
The loss of this sponsorship is a new blow for French basketball, which will stop earning 1.3 million euros per season. Last season, the e-commerce giant Amazon and the telecommunications company Altice also stopped sponsoring the competition following the interruption of the championship in 2019-2020 due to the crisis of the coronavirus pandemic, which ended in its cancellation.
The television rights to the LNB, both the Jeep Elite and the Pro B (second division), were held by Altice from the 2015-2016 season through the 2019-20. Since then, the league has sold its rights to the L’Équipe television channel and the free-to-air channel Sport en France.
The crisis of the French basketball is accentuated after the decision of Jeep not to renew the ‘naming’ of the Pro A
French basketball closed 2019-2020 in profits. Despite the economic crisis derived from the Covid-19 pandemic, the French Jeep Elite and Pro B basketball clubs concluded last year in the black, although the result would be different if only the operating result is taken into account.
The French Government and some shareholders of certain clubs allowed damage to be minimized during the 2019-2020 season, according to data from the National Directorate for Management Consulting and Control (Dnccgcp), in a season concluded with 93.9 million euros of income.
The clubs of the Jeep Elite, the highest category of French basketball, presented a cumulative net result of 488,000 euros last season, a figure that contrasts with the operating result of the course, concluded with red numbers of 2.95 million euros, offset by an exceptional result of 3.6 million euros, mainly due to the contributions of the shareholders of Ldlc Asvel and Metropolitans 92.
On the other hand, in the 2020-2021 season, and despite the resumption of the championship a few weeks ago, the teams are preparing for big losses according to the National Directorate of Management Consulting and Control (Dnccg). Specific, 11 million euros in losses are estimated for the 18 Elite clubs and 4 million for those of the Pro B. A figure that would have been even higher without the new state aid mechanisms.
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