Marc Gasol, more and more president and less player. The former player of the Memphis Grizzlies, Toronto Raptors and Los Angeles Lakers, who combines the presidency of Bàsquet Girona with his role as team leader on the court, says that his recipe for growth as a club and as a sport is the professionalization of structures, key, according to Gasol, to leave behind the deficit model of national basketball. The player, who founded the club in 2014, defends that European basketball has its own identity and that facilities must be provided for the spectator to follow the LEB Oro.
Question: Is Bàsquet Girona a heartfelt investment?
Response: It was due to a host of situations that occurred in 2014, when the club began to be defined, that it began to be drawn as a training entity. We took this step because it was something that the parents of the base players had started, because Girona was left without clubs. The idea was to make a more personal club, with a training intention and its own identity. After seven years, the base has increased. We were not immediately looking for an economic return, but there was a space, as well as an emotional memory. In addition, I am linked to Girona, which was important when I grew up as a person and a player. We wanted to do it and so we did.
Q.: How can Spanish basketball stop being in deficit?
R.: You have to be very responsible in management and you have to professionalize the structures. It is very important to be strict and invest in this field. It happened to us: out of trust, we put people in certain positions, but they didn’t have the training, the time or the ability to develop such important positions. And not only in the economic part, but in the human or search for resources. Relying on public subsidies is a dangerous combination. You have to have different verticals to generate income. You have to invest in certain positions and not be afraid. We have made an analysis of where we were, where we are and where we want to go. And in this process you have to redirect and tweak the plan, because everything evolves. It is not easy, because everything goes very fast. Personally I would like to go more little by little, but opportunities arise.
Q.: What strategies should you adopt to increase the audience of this sport?
R.: In LEB Oro, you have to make it easy for the viewer to see us. Currently they have to pay a fee to see a second division that is already difficult to follow because it does not appear constantly in the media. Facilities would have to be put in place to be able to follow your club and make the final phases last for a while. There are projects that generate a lot of interest and an emotional bond between the project and the fan. We must promote a more careful product, invest in the production of the matches and their logistics and make sure that the fans have a good time. That is, there are more things than just basketball. In addition, such a low distribution on television does not help to produce better or have a more careful product.
“There has been a Gasol effect because I decided to take the step, but you cannot always depend on a decision of this type”
Q.: Does national basketball need to look for more Gasol effects?
R.: No. The Gasol effect can be momentary. There has been a Gasol effect because I decided to do the step. And we’ve been working on this for a long time. But you can’t always depend on such a decision. What you have to be clear about is that when something like this happens, you have to be prepared as a league, because if you don’t get caught at the wrong time.
Q.: What can Spanish basketball copy from the American model?
R.: European basketball has its own identity. You have to adapt things that work there, but with the difference of the fan, since the one there is more casual. The American fan won’t miss out on dinner if his team loses. Maybe he comes just to distract himself. We want that when someone comes to Fontajau they have a good time. For this reason, at the base of the track we have a children’s area where you can leave children up to ten years old, who will be cared for, distracted and will have fun activities, so that parents can enjoy the show. In Fontajau there is the sports part, but there are more things. In European basketball things are done very well and identity should not be lost. It’s not just copying, it’s adapting certain things. But investment is necessary. And if everything goes to players, there will be no investment.
Q.: The figure of player-president is unprecedented. How do you manage a club in which you are also part of the squad?
R.: It’s not easy. Playing wastes a lot of time and conditions. Honestly, the part of president and leadership gives me more emotionally. The part of the professional basketball player is fading away and is becoming less and less important.
Q.: What management models planning to apply to club management?
R.: Of empowerment. I am the person in charge, but each one is responsible for their areas. Decisions are made jointly and my opinion is never definitive. Each area has to be more specialized and must operate separately.
“Depending on public subsidies is a dangerous combination”
Q.: To reach the Euroleague, which managers are you going to surround yourself with? What teams will you create?
R.: We already have a work structure for Euroleague teams. The vision is to be there, but to offer the best possible service, promoting and standardizing professionalism in all areas. But we are still young as a club. There is no need to be afraid of error. You have to know how to self-criticize.
Q.: What would you improve about the ACB?
R.: It has a very good image. I don’t know if it will be possible to equalize salaries, because there are many differences between some teams and others and it is difficult to compete. It would have to be seen what can be done to equalize the league and the distribution of television rights. Surely there are people more prepared than me who consider this. The NBA is very brave and has a concern to constantly evolve and, for example, it raises a lot of things in regulations, which helps to hook the fan.
Q.: What is the relationship with Uni Girona?
R.: It is a benchmark for many things and whenever we can, we collaborate. In the end, our offices are separated by ten meters and we share a gym and the changing rooms are wall to wall. Surely, over time, collaboration evolves naturally. I already verbalized at the end of last year that from the club we want the female training base and it is important. We want to release the girls we have now. And, currently, it is the only team as a female reference, so we will surely do things together.
