Basketball Bundesliga

Basketball Bundesliga
Founded 1966 (1966)
First season 1966–67
Country  Germany
Confederation FIBA Europe
Number of teams 18
Level on pyramid 1
Relegation to ProA
Domestic cup(s) BBL-Pokal
Supercup BBL Champions Cup
International cup(s) EuroLeague
EuroCup
Champions League
FIBA Europe Cup
Current champions Bayern Munich
(4th title)
(2018)
Most championships Bayer Giants Leverkusen
(14 titles)
TV partners Telekom Entertain
Website www.basketball-bundesliga.de
2017–18 Basketball Bundesliga

The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: Federal Basketball League), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the highest level league of professional club basketball in Germany. The league comprises 18 teams. A BBL season is split into a league stage and a playoff stage. At the end of the league stage, the top eight teams qualify for the playoff stage, and the teams positioned in the 17th and 18th places are relegated to a lower tier league. The playoffs are played in a "Best of five" format. The winning team of the final round are crowned the German Champions of that season.

In addition to the league competition, all BBL teams compete for the German Cup (BBL-Cup).[1] Teams playing in the second league (ProA or ProB), or in a lower level Regionalliga, are also eligible to participate in the German Cup.[2] There are always 3 knock-out rounds that are played for the BBL-Cup. If more teams from the leagues below the BBL level apply for participation, then available places, and additional qualification rounds are added for them. The final four remaining teams determine the rankings for bronze, silver, and gold medals, in knock-out matches that are termed the BBL-TOP4. The gold winning team is the German Cup winner.

The Basketball Bundesliga is run by the Basketball Bundesliga GmbH. 74% of BBL GmbH is owned by the AG BBL e.V. (which is composed of the clubs), and 26% by the German Basketball Federation (DBB).[3][4]

History

In Germany, a national domestic basketball championship was first organised in 1939, and it was won by LSV Spandau. By 1944, almost all basketball activity in the country was forced to an end, due to the Second World War. In 1947, MTSV Schwabing München became the first champion of post-war divided Germany.

The creation of a split West-German federal-league, consisting of one northern division and one southern division, each comprising 10 teams, was decided on by the German Basketball Federation (DBB) in 1964. On October 1, 1966, the first season of the so-called Basketball Bundesliga started. Starting with the 1971–72 season, the size of each division was reduced to 8 teams.

With the 1975–76 season, the league structure was changed into a ten team first league (1. Basketball Bundesliga), and a 20 team second league (2. Basketball Bundesliga). Only the second league was split into a northern and a southern division, of 10 teams each. In 1985, the top league was enlarged to a size of 12 teams, and two years later, each division of the second league was also enlarged to 12 teams.

In 1988, the championship mode "Best of five" was applied for the first time. Starting with the 1995–96 season, the first league consisted of 14 teams. The Basketball Bundesliga GmbH (BBL) was founded in October 1996.

The federal leagues received their own administration within the framework of the German Basketball Federation in 1997. Since then, the second league divisions have been administered by the "AG 2. Bundesliga", while the BBL has been responsible for the first league. Two years later, a contract was signed between the BBL and the German Basketball Federation, in which the federation transferred its marketing/events rights to the BBL, for a 10-year duration, and in return, the BBL agreed to pay an annual "amateur support fee" of DM 600,000 (€ 306,775).

Starting with the 2003–04 season, the top league was increased to 16 teams, and in 2006–07, it was further increased to its present size of 18 teams. For the following 2007–08 season, the structure of the second league was reshaped from its northern/southern divisions, into a ProA division, and a ProB division. These divisions remained under the administration by "AG 2. Bundesliga".

Between 1994 and 2001, the highest level German basketball league was called "Veltins Basketball Bundesliga", and from 2001, until 2003, the league was known as "s.Oliver Basketball Bundesliga". Bayer Giants Leverkusen hold the league titles won record, being the winner of 14 German Basketball Championships. However, since 1997, ALBA Berlin has dominated the league, winning their 8th title in 2008. Twenty-one teams have won the championship, since its inception.

Sponsorship

In 2016, the BBL joined forces with Tipbet, a Malta-based betting company.[5] This made Tipbet the Official Betting and Premium Sponsor of the league; the sponsorship agreement results in advertising activities throughout the arenas and online, and runs until 2018.[6]

Arena rules

Currently, all Bundesliga clubs must play in arenas that seat at least 3,000 people.

Logos, names, and sponsorship names

  • 1966–2009Basketball Bundesliga
  • 2009–2016Beko BBL
  • 2016–2021easyCredit BBL[7]

Title holders

Titles by club

Club Titles Winning years
Bayer 04 Leverkusen
14
 1969–70, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1975–76, 1978–79, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96
USC Heidelberg
9
 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1965–66, 1972–73, 1976–77
Brose Bamberg
9
 2004–05, 2006–07, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17
Alba Berlin
8
 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2007–08
Gießen 46ers
5
 1964–65, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1974–75, 1977–78
Turnerbund Heidelberg
4
 1947–48, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1952–53
Bayern Munich
4
 1953–54, 1954–55, 2013–14, 2017–18
Saturn Köln
4
 1980–81, 1981–82, 1986–87, 1987–88
ASC 1846 Göttingen
3
 1979–80, 1982–83, 1983–84
Alemannia Aachen
2
 1962–63, 1963–64
MTSV Schwabing
2
 1946–47, 1948–49
LSV Spandau
1
 1938–39
Stuttgart-Degerloch
1
 1949–50
ATV Düsseldorf
1
 1955–56
Osnabrück
1
 1968–69
SSV Hagen
1
 1973–74
Steiner Bayreuth
1
 1988–89
Skyliners Frankfurt
1
 2003–04
RheinStars Köln
1
 2005–06
EWE Baskets Oldenburg
1
 2008–09

Finals

Season Home court advantage Result Home court disadvantage 1st of Regular Season Record
1986–87
 Bayer 04 Leverkusen
0–2
 Saturn Köln Bayer 04 Leverkusen
18–2
1987–88
 Bayer 04 Leverkusen
1–3
 Saturn Köln Bayer 04 Leverkusen
19–3
1988–89
 Steiner Bayreuth
3–2
 Bayer 04 Leverkusen Steiner Bayreuth
20–2
1989–90
 Steiner Bayreuth
1–3
 Bayer 04 Leverkusen Steiner Bayreuth
21–1
1990–91
 Bayer 04 Leverkusen
3–2
 BG Charlottenburg Bayer 04 Leverkusen
30–2
1991–92
 Bayer 04 Leverkusen
3–0
 Alba Berlin Bayer 04 Leverkusen
28–4
1992–93
 Bayer 04 Leverkusen
3–1
 TTL Bamberg Bayer 04 Leverkusen
26–6
1993–94
 Bayer 04 Leverkusen
3–0
 Brandt Hagen Bayer 04 Leverkusen
28–4
1994–95
 Bayer 04 Leverkusen
3–0
 Alba Berlin Bayer 04 Leverkusen
28–4
1995–96
 Bayer 04 Leverkusen
3–1
 Alba Berlin Bayer 04 Leverkusen
24–2
1996–97
 Alba Berlin
3–1
 Telekom Baskets Bonn Alba Berlin
24–2
1997–98
 Alba Berlin
3–0
 ratiopharm Ulm Alba Berlin
21–3
1998–99
 Alba Berlin
3–2
 Telekom Baskets Bonn Alba Berlin
22–4
1999–00
 Alba Berlin
3–0
 Bayer 04 Leverkusen Alba Berlin
24–2
2000–01
 Alba Berlin
3–0
 Telekom Baskets Bonn Alba Berlin
25–1
2001–02
 RheinEnergie Köln
0–3
 Alba Berlin Opel Skyliners
20–6
2002–03
 Alba Berlin
3–0
 TSK Bamberg Telekom Baskets Bonn
19–7
2003–04
 Opel Skyliners
3–2
 GHP Bamberg Alba Berlin
20–8
2004–05
 GHP Bamberg
3–2
 Opel Skyliners Alba Berlin
22–8
2005–06
 Alba Berlin
1–3
 RheinEnergie Köln Alba Berlin
26–4
2006–07
 Brose Baskets
3–1
 Artland Dragons Alba Berlin
28–6
2007–08
 Alba Berlin
3–1
 Telekom Baskets Bonn Alba Berlin
27–7
2008–09
 EWE Baskets Oldenburg
3–2
 Telekom Baskets Bonn Alba Berlin
26–8
2009–10
 Brose Baskets
3–2
 Deutsche Bank Skyliners EWE Baskets Oldenburg
25–9
2010–11
 Brose Baskets
3–2
 Alba Berlin Brose Baskets
32–2
2011–12
 Brose Baskets
3–0
 ratiopharm Ulm Brose Baskets
30–4
2012–13
 Brose Baskets
3–0
 EWE Baskets Brose Baskets
26–8
2013–14
 Bayern Munich
3–1
 Alba Berlin Bayern Munich
29–5
2014–15
 Brose Baskets
3–2
 Bayern Munich Brose Baskets
29–5
2015–16
 Brose Baskets
3–0
 ratiopharm Ulm Brose Baskets
31–3
2016–17
 Brose Bamberg
3–0
 EWE Baskets Oldenburg ratiopharm Ulm
30–2
2017–18
 Bayern Munich
3–2
 Alba Berlin Bayern Munich
31–3

Awards

Finals MVPs

SeasonFinals MVP
2004–05United States Chris Williams
2005–06United States Immanuel McElroy
2006–07United States Casey Jacobsen
2007–08United States Julius Jenkins
2008–09United States Rickey Paulding
2009–10United States Casey Jacobsen
2010–11United States Kyle Hines
2011–12United States P. J. Tucker
2012–13Germany Anton Gavel
2013–14United States Malcolm Delaney
2014–15United States Brad Wanamaker
2015–16United States Darius Miller
2016–17France Fabien Causeur
2017–18Germany Danilo Barthel

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ausschreibung BBL-Pokal 2009 BBL (in German).
  2. ↑ Ausschreibung für den Vereinspokal-Wettbewerb Herren 2008/2009 DBB (in German).
  3. ↑ Struktur beko-bbl.de
  4. ↑ Governance of Professional Sports Leagues - Cooperatives versus Contracts, page 24 ftp.repec.org
  5. ↑ "BBL partners with Tipbet". SportsPro. SportsPro. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  6. ↑ "Tipbet.com is The Official Betting and Premium Sponsor of the German easyCredit Basketball Bundesliga". Tipbet.
  7. ↑ Fünf Jahre Vertrauen: easyCredit neuer Namensgeber und strategischer Partner der Basketball Bundesliga
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