There is a shipyard in the name under which an Italian team will make its first-ever appearance in European basketball’s second-tier competition. From the 2026/27 season, Derthona Basket will compete in the BKT EuroCup under the official name Baglietto Derthona Tortona, with the Seagull brand as title sponsor for the Piedmontese club’s continental debut.
For anyone who follows yachting, the move is less surprising than it might seem. Baglietto and Derthona Basket share the same ownership: the Gavio family, which has controlled the La Spezia yard since 2012 and has long tied its other nautical brand, Bertram, to the black-and-white club. And it is precisely in the division of roles that the strategy reveals itself: Bertram will remain title sponsor in Serie A, the domestic stage, while Baglietto takes the European naming – the international shop window. It is a brand architecture choice entirely consistent with the positioning of the La Spezia builder, whose clientele – owners of full-custom yachts between 35 and 65 metres – is by definition global and largely Mediterranean. It is no coincidence that the new EuroCup, expanded to 32 teams across sixteen countries, touches down in Monaco, Spain, Greece and Turkey: a geography that maps almost literally onto the cruising routes of large yachts.
The debut of the partnership
The new name makes its debut immediately: on Wednesday 8 July in Barcelona, the group-stage draw has set the calendar for the 2026/27 BKT EuroCup. Derthona arrives with a multi-year licence, a sign that the European commitment – and with it the brand’s visibility – is built to last.
Founded in 1854 in Varazze by Pietro Baglietto and today based in La Spezia, in the Gulf of Poets, Baglietto is one of the historic names of Italian shipbuilding: more than 170 years of construction spanning the first motor yachts of the early twentieth century, a long military tradition and today’s aluminium and steel superyachts. Under the Gavio Group the yard has undergone an industrial revival built on investment in the La Spezia and Carrara facilities and a decisive push on innovation, starting with the BZERO project for hydrogen hybrid propulsion.
“We are particularly proud to stand alongside Derthona Basket in an international competition of such a high level,” said Diego Michele Deprati, CEO of Baglietto. “We share with the Club values we feel are profoundly our own: the pursuit of excellence, the determination to chase ever more ambitious goals, team spirit and the will to keep improving. These are the principles that guide our work every day and that have allowed Baglietto to establish itself on international markets.”
Growing toghether
Alberto Pernigotti, CEO of Derthona Basket, echoed him: “Baglietto’s arrival as title sponsor of our team in the BKT EuroCup marks a further step forward in a partnership that continues to strengthen and grow. It is a source of great prestige for us to be flanked, now in the team’s very name, by a brand that represents Italian excellence around the world with style, elegance and quality.” Pernigotti also underlined the bond with Liguria, “a region we feel very close to, not only through geographical proximity but also through the many basketball fans who have followed our colours with affection and dedication for years”.
For Baglietto, which in recent years has consolidated its order book and extended its range up to 60 metres, the EuroCup is therefore rather more than a family sponsorship: it is the decision to take the Seagull onto a stage that speaks the same language as its markets. From 8 July, draw in hand, we will also know in which ports – sporting ones, this time – it will call.
