Belgrade earns EUR 20mn from EuroLeague's Final Four
Belgrade earned a total of about EUR 20 million last weekend by hosting EuroLeague's Final Four basketball tournament.
Source: Tanjug
City Manager Goran Vesic said this on Tuesday, and explained that most of the money came from tourists who were in town for the event - about 15,000 of them.
Vesic told Tanjug that the city's policy is to organize one big sporting competition every year in order to attract tourists and earn money - but also to improve and promote Belgrade's image during these events broadcast around the world - and show potential investors that this is "a city of sport, a city where good things are happening."
"We are overjoyed with this event, we proved ourselves to be excellent hosts, and that's why we decided to make a bid to (host) EuroLeague's final tournament in 2020 and ask EuroLeague to give us a three-year-contact," Vesic said.
As for the competition, Real Madrid beat Fenerbahce Istanbul 85-80 (21-17, 17-23, 25-15, 22-25) on Sunday, clinching their tenth EuroLeague title.
At a packed Stark Arena, dominated by Turkish supporters, Luka Doncic - who was named MVP of both the regular season and the Final Four tournament - and Fabien Causeur led Real Madrid with 15 points each, while Nicolo Melli scored 26 for Fenerbahce, who won the title last season, Tanjug reported.
