Euroleague’s own fantasy game is long established, the Basketball Champions League has its own, and the NBA has no shortage of options. Yet one independent operator has entered the fray with an interesting offering. Emmet Ryan caught up with Figurei8ht to learn about their new Euroleague fantasy game.
It’s been in operation since before the season started and has already proven quite popular. Yet why exactly did Figurei8ght go from being merely a beloved sharer of analytics to creating their very own fantasy game for Euroleague?
Well, that’s something I wanted to find out so I went straight to the source to find out. Here’s my Q&A with the brain behind the game. Oh and, of course, here’s the link where you can play.
The Why
BiE: Why did you want to start a Euroleague fantasy game?
Figurei8ht: The honest answer is frustration. The existing EuroLeague fantasy uses PIR as its only metric, a tool designed for coaches, not fantasy managers. When one number decides everything, every team ends up looking the same, and if you start slowly the season is effectively over by Round 10.
I follow EuroLeague closely and I felt the format was letting the fans down. European basketball has some of the most tactically sophisticated fans in the world. They deserved something that matched that intelligence. So I decided to build it myself.
The origin story
BiE: Where did your interest in stats and data come from? Is it something you do in your day job or in college?
Figurei8ht: My professional background is in finance, I’m a CFO in a big multinational company, so working with numbers, models, and structured systems is something I do every day.
At some point that analytical instinct crossed over into basketball. I started breaking down EuroLeague stats beyond the box score, looking at efficiency categories, usage patterns, how different player types complement each other.
The @Figurei8ht account on X started as a way to share that analysis. The fantasy game grew naturally from the same thinking, how do you build a system that rewards genuine basketball intelligence rather than just picking the most famous names?
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A unique approach
BiE: The Rotational format — that is fascinating. What was the thinking behind that idea?
Figurei8ht: The core idea came from a question: what if roster construction was a season-long strategic puzzle rather than a one-time draft decision? In Rotational mode you can pick any player every Round [providing] total flexibility. But each player has a 20-use cap across 38 Rounds. That single constraint changes everything. Do you use your best player now when you need points, or save him for a harder Round later?
Rotational mode tends to attract managers who want maximum control every week and enjoy making active decisions each Round. Draft mode appeals to those who love the ritual of building a roster from scratch and then managing it through trades and the waiver wire. Two very different personalities, two very different games, both running on the same platform and the same 8-category scoring system.
About the draft version
BiE: My favourite type of fantasy is the NFL — a draft and head-to-head matchups every week. Was this the type of experience you wanted to bring to EuroLeague?
Figurei8ht: Partly, yes. The NFL experience you’re describing, the draft anticipation, the weekly stakes, the feeling that every decision matters, that’s exactly what was missing from European basketball fantasy. Draft Mode in Figurei8ht gives you that: a real automated two-phase draft, waiver wire management, trades, and season-long roster ownership.
For EuroLeague specifically, the draft adds a layer of identity to your team that didn’t exist before your roster reflects your strategic priorities from day one.
The 8-category Roto scoring system is what gives both modes their depth. Rather than one aggregated number deciding everything, eight categories: points, assists, rebounds, steals, blocks, field goal percentage, turnovers, and free throw percentage. [These] are ranked and scored independently every Round.
A well-balanced roster can beat a star-heavy one. A team that dominates defensive stats competes equally against a team built on scoring. It rewards genuine basketball intelligence, not just picking the most recognisable names.
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The audience
BiE: Who do you think will want to play?
Figurei8ht: There are two clear audiences. The first is the engaged EuroLeague fan who already follows the stats closely, the person who knows that a player’s FG% matters as much as their points total, who tracks minutes and role changes across the season. The 8-category Roto system was built for them.
The second audience is the broader fantasy sports community, people who play fantasy in other sports and have been waiting for a format like this. The game is free to join, so the barrier to try it is zero.
But there is a third dimension that I think will resonate deeply with a certain type of manager, the competitive one who thinks beyond a single season. The best teams each season qualify for advanced leagues the following year, a champions and top league whole ecosystem.
That qualification system creates something rare in fantasy sports: continuity. Your decisions this season affect where you compete next season. Managers who embrace that will build something that feels like a dynasty, a team identity, a track record, a reputation within the community. That long-term commitment is something we deliberately built into the platform from the start.
Project goals
BiE: What would you consider a successful season for the fantasy game as a project?
Figurei8ht: Honestly, retention more than registration. I could chase signup numbers but what actually matters is whether the managers who join are still engaged in Round 25 the same way they were in Round 1.
If the Roto format is doing its job [by] keeping standings competitive, making every Round feel meaningful, [then] managers stay invested all season. Beyond that, I want to see genuine community form around it. Managers debating waiver wire picks, arguing about trade values, tracking the standings. If that happens organically by mid-season, that tells me the product works. Numbers come after that.
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