Basketball Champions League

The Basketball Champions League (BCL), also commonly known as the FIBA Basketball Champions League (FIBA BCL), is an annual professional basketball competition for European clubs, organised by FIBA. It is the top-level competition organised by FIBA Europe, therefore the champion participates in the FIBA Intercontinental Cup.

This article is about the basketball competition in Europe. For basketball competition in Americas, see Basketball Champions League Americas.
Basketball Champions League
Founded21 March 2016 (2016-03-21)
First season2016–17
RegionEurope
ConfederationFIBA Europe
Number of teams32 (regular season)
56 (total)
Level on pyramid1
International cup(s)Intercontinental Cup
Current championsGermany Telekom Baskets Bonn
(1st title)
Most championshipsSpain Lenovo Tenerife
Spain San Pablo Burgos
(2 titles each)
TV partnerslivebasketball.tv (all games)
International:
See list
Websitechampionsleague.basketball
2023–24 Basketball Champions League

Clubs qualify for the competition mostly based on performance in their national leagues and cup competitions. Although exceptional, some teams can be wildcarded.[1][2]

Creation and adoption
See also: FIBA–EuroLeague dispute

In October 2015, FIBA attempted to take back control of Europe's top-tier club competition,[3][4] by proposing a new competition, featuring 16 teams playing in a round-robin format, and granting eight guaranteed spots to different clubs. When top European clubs decided to maintain the same competition format, keeping organization within Euroleague Basketball,[5] FIBA announced launch of a new European basketball club competition,[6] with qualification based on sporting merit.[7]

Format

Tournament

The tournament proper begins with a regular season of 32 teams, divided into four groups. Seeding is used in the draw for this stage, and teams from the same country may not be drawn into groups together. Each team meets the others in its group in home and away games, in a round-robin format. The top four teams from each group then progress to the play-offs. The fifth and sixth-placed teams can choose to enter the FIBA Europe Cup playoffs in the same season.[8]

The regular season is played from October to January, and the playoffs start in February. In the round of 16 and quarter-finals, ties are played in a 'home and away' format, based on aggregate scores. For the round of 16, the winning team from one group plays against the fourth-placed team from another group and the runner-up from one group plays against the third-placed team from another group. For the quarter-finals, the winners of games between the group winners and fourth-placed teams play against the winners from the runners-up and third-placed teams. The Final Four is typically held in the final week of April or the first week of May.[8]

Arena rules

Currently, the minimum seating capacity for home arenas of the clubs that compete in the Basketball Champions League (BCL) is 3,000 seats. However, the Basketball Champions League organizing body has the authority to grant clubs with smaller arenas a waiver of the rule.[9]

Prizes

Trophy

Each year, the winning team is presented with the Basketball Champions League Trophy. The current trophy is 65 cm (26 in) tall and made of sterling silver with 24ct gold plated highlights, weighing 8 kg (18 lb). It was designed by Radiant Studios and crafted by Thomas Lyte. A basketball net forms the focus of the trophy, and the design creates the effect of a crown.[10]

Prize money

From 2016–17 to 2017–18, FIBA reduced the prize money from €5,200,000 to €3,500,000, but doubled the prize for the winner from €500,000 to €1,000,000.[11][8] As of 2017–18, FIBA awards a base fee of €50,000 for reaching the regular season. In addition, FIBA pays teams reaching the round of 16 €20,000, each quarter-finalist €30,000, €40,000 for the fourth-placed team, €100,000 for the third-placed team, €300,000 for the runners-up, and €900,000 for the winners.[8]

  • Base fee for the regular season: €50,000
  • Round of 16: €70,000
  • Quarter-finals: €100,000
  • 4th placed team: €140,000
  • 3rd placed team: €200,000
  • Losing finalist: €400,000
  • Winning the Final: €1,000,000

Results
Main article: Basketball Champions League Final Four
Season Year Final Third and fourth place
Winners Score Second place Third place Score Fourth place
1 2016–17
Details		 Spain
Iberostar Tenerife		 63–59 Turkey
Banvit		 France
Monaco		 91–77 Italy
Umana Reyer Venezia
2 2017–18
Details		 Greece
AEK		 100–94 France
Monaco		 Spain
UCAM Murcia		 85–74 Germany
MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg
3 2018–19
Details		 Italy
Virtus Segafredo Bologna		 73–61 Spain
Iberostar Tenerife		 Belgium
Telenet Antwerp Giants		 72–58 Germany
Brose Bamberg
4 2019–20
Details		 Spain
San Pablo Burgos		 85–74 Greece
AEK		 France
JDA Dijon		 70–65 Spain
Casademont Zaragoza
5 2020–21
Details		 Spain
San Pablo Burgos		 64–59 Turkey
Pınar Karşıyaka		 Spain
Casademont Zaragoza		 89–77 France
SIG Strasbourg
6 2021–22
Details		 Spain
Lenovo Tenerife		 98–87 Spain
Baxi Manresa		 Germany
MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg		 88–68 Israel
Hapoel Holon
7 2022–23
Details		 Germany
Baskets Bonn		 77–70 Israel
Hapoel Jerusalem		 Spain
Lenovo Tenerife		 84–79 Spain
Unicaja Málaga

Performances by club
Map of countries, teams from which have reached the regular season of the Basketball Champions League.
  Country that has been represented in the regular season
  Country that has been represented in the qualifying rounds
  Not represented
Main article: Basketball Champions League records and statistics

A total of 98 clubs from 28 national associations have played in or qualified for the Champions League group stage.

Club Winners Runners-up Years won Years runner-up
Spain Canarias 2 1 2017, 2022 2019
Spain San Pablo Burgos 2 0 2020, 2021 –
Greece AEK 1 1 2018 2020
Italy Virtus Bologna 1 0 2019 –
Germany Baskets Bonn 1 0 2023 –
Turkey Bandırma 0 1 – 2017
France Monaco 0 1 – 2018
Turkey Karşıyaka 0 1 – 2021
Spain Manresa 0 1 – 2022
Israel Hapoel Jerusalem 0 1 – 2023

Broadcasting rights
Country/Region Broadcaster Free/Pay Ref.
International YouTube (unsold markets only) Free
livebasketball.tv Pay
Balkans Arena Sport Pay
Alternativna TV Free [12]
 Austria DAZN Pay [13][14]
 Spain[lower-alpha 1]
  Switzerland
 Germany YouTube & Magenta TV Free
 Estonia TV3 Group Free & Pay [15]
 France Canal+, LNB.TV Pay [16][17]
 Greece Cosmote TV Pay
 Israel Sports Channel Free & Pay
 Italy Eurosport Pay [18]
 Latvia TV3 Group Free & Pay [19]
 Lithuania TV3 Group Free & Pay
 Poland Canal+ Premium Pay [20]
 Romania Look Sport Free
 Turkey Tivibu Spor Free & Pay [21]
 Vietnam VTVCab
  1. Only games of Spanish teams.

Awards
Marcelo Huertas was the FIBA Champions League Final Four MVP in 2022.
Main article: Basketball Champions League Awards

Winning rosters

Youth competition

In January 2023, the Basketball Champions League launched its under-18 competition named the "Youth Basketball Champions League".[22] The inaugural season will be hosted in the Turkish city of Bursa and features 10 teams that play in a league format for the championship.The winners of the 2023 Youth Basketball Champions League was Igokea m:tel

See also

Sources

References
  1. "Champions League - Wild Card 2018-19 in arrivo per la Segafredo Bologna" (in Italian). Pianeta Basket. 6 March 2018.
  2. "Bamberg schenkt Euroleague ab" (in German). 18 June 2018.
  3. "FIBA to welcome top European clubs for talks on new competition". FIBA. 27 October 2015. Archived from the original on October 28, 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  4. "FIBA offers innovative partnership to top European clubs". FIBA. 3 November 2015. Archived from [hnddnttp://www.fiba.com/pr-68-fiba-offers-innovative-partnership-to-top-european-clubs the original] on 24 June 2017. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  5. "Euroleague Basketball A-licence clubs and IMG agree on 10-year joint venture". Euroleague Basketball. 10 November 2015. Archived from the original on 21 March 2016. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  6. "FIBA confirms launch of Basketball Champions League for 2016-17 season". BasketballCL.com. 26 November 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  7. "Basketball Champions League Working Groups make significant headway". BasketballCL.com. 28 January 2016. Archived from the original on 21 March 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  8. "Basketball Champions League regulations" (PDF). BasketballCL.com. 3 May 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 June 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  9. Basketball Champions League Competition Regulations Page 6 of 49. Archived 12 June 2018 at the Wayback Machine
  10. "Details for the BCL trophy".
  11. "Basketball Champions League regulations" (PDF). BasketballCL.com. 16 September 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 October 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  12. Only in Bosnia for Igokea matches.
  13. "DAZN to remain home of Basketball Champions League in Germany | News | Sportcal". www.sportcal.com. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
  14. "DAZN scores Basketball Champions League rights in Spain ahead of season tip-off". Digital TV Europe. 11 October 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  15. "TV3 Sport live broadcasts, November 10 2021". TV3 Sport. 2021-11-10. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  16. "Basketball Champions League and Canal+ sign a major broadcasting deal". BasketballCL.com. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  17. "Basketball Champions League gives fans free content with LNB TV". Insider Sport. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  18. "Guida tv della settimana: tutto il basket in diretta su Eurosport 2 ed Eurosport Player". Eurosport. 2019-11-10. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
  19. "TV3 Sport". TV3 Sport. 2022-01-20. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  20. "Basketball Champions League w Canal+". Sat Kurier (in Polish). 2020-11-03. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  21. "Basketbol Şampiyonlar Ligi Tivibu Spor'da". Türk Telekom Medya Merkezi (in Turkish). 2020-09-21. Retrieved 2021-05-09.
  22. "New year, new horizons as BCL launches forward-looking Youth Basketball Champions League". FIBA.basketball. 2023-01-16. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
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