As in the previous years, Euro-League Basketball World Tour will get underway on Friday September 25, 2015 as part of the organization’s corporate social responsibility program. The World Tour 2015 will feature five of Europe’s signature clubs in a globe-hopping expedition to compete in 10 exhibition games in 4 continents to develop new audiences. Besides, the annual exercise is aimed at community-relations activities, setting up basketball clinics and a bit of tourism before the long-drawn Turkish Airlines Euro-league 2015-16 regular season starts on October 15, 2015. The Clubs that have been chosen for the 15-day long 2015 World Tour are; Real Madrid, Panathinaikos Athens, Fenerbahce Istanbul, Olimpia Milan and Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv.
As part of Euro-league’s global goodwill activities this year, five European basketball clubs will undertake a 15-day long World Tour from September 15 onwards. Real Madrid will go to South America for the 2015 FIBA Euro-league Intercontinental Cup; Panathinaikos Athens will travel to China for two exhibition games at Hangzhou on September 28 against Zhejiang Lions and on September 30 against Guangdong Tigers in Macau; Fenerbahce Istanbul will embark on a trip to North America and Olimpia Milan and Real Madrid will play host to NBA Club Boston Celtics. The latest addition in the annual World Tour will feature Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv and Olimpia Milan playing against each other twice for the first-ever games between Euro-league opponents in USA.
The reigning Turkish Airlines Euro-league champion Real Madrid will play two games in Brazil against the South American Club Bauru in the third edition of FIBA Euro-league Intercontinental Cup. Bauru was the 2015 FIBA Liga de las Americas champion. These two games will be played in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city. The first game is scheduled for September 25 and the second will be played on September 27.
On September 28, Euro-league’s most successful team Panathinaikos Athens will play against Zhejiang Lions at Hangzhou in China as the opening leg of their tour before concluding their China campaign at Macau on September 28 with a match against Guangdong Tigers on September 30. When Panathinaikos Athens had visited China in 2013, they had a Chinese Shang Ping in their ranks. Ping was the first Chinese ever to join a European Club but he has since come back home to play for Tianjin Ronggang. Regardless, Panathinaikos are excited about the upcoming trip to continue as Turkish Airlines Euro-league ambassadors in Asia.
The 2015 World Tour will make history, when European opponents Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv and Olimpia Milano will play against each other on US soil for the first time ever. The first match has been scheduled for October 1 at Chicago’s United Center and they will conclude their US trip with a rematch at the world-famous Madison Square Garden in New York City on Sunday October 4.
When Maccabi and Milano go back, Fenerbahce Istanbul will arrive in USA for two games against NBA teams. In the first match, Fenerbahce will play against Brooklyn Nets on October 5 and against Oklahoma City Thunder on October 9. This will be the fourth time that Fenerbahce play pre-season games against NBA teams but for the first time they would be doing so in the United States. In the intervening period, Olimpija Milano and Real Madrid would have returned home and they will host Boston Celtics in the NBA Global Games. Milan will play against Boston on October 6 while Real Madrid’s match against the American Club will be played on October 8 at Madrid.
