FIBA Americas League

FIBA Americas League
Current season, competition or edition: 2017 FIBA Americas League

Sport	Basketball
Founded	2007
CEO	Usie Richards
No. of teams	16
Country	FIBA Americas members
Continent	Americas
Most recent champion(s)	Guaros de Lara (2nd title)
Most titles	Peñarol Guaros de Lara (2 titles)
TV partner(s)	DirecTV (South America) Sky (Mexico and Central America) ESPN and ESPN Deportes (United States) SporTV (Brazil) Eurosport (Europe and Asia Pacific)
Level on pyramid	1st-tier South America (South American pyramid) Central America Caribbean Mexico
Related competitions	FIBA Intercontinental Cup
Official website	FIBA Americas.com

The FIBA Americas League (Portuguese: FIBA Liga das Américas, Spanish: FIBA Liga de las Américas) is an international men's professional intercontinental basketball club competition played annually by clubs of the Americas. It is organized by FIBA Americas. The first edition started on December 4, 2007.^[1]

The winner of the FIBA Americas League Final 4, the culminating tournament of each season's FIBA Americas League, is crowned as the champion of all of the FIBA Americas zone region. The tournament's final is called the Grand Final. It is the first-tier and most important professional international club basketball competition in the regions of South America (see: South American basketball pyramid), Central America, the Caribbean, and Mexico. In recent years, the winner of each season's FIBA Americas tournament, played against the winner of each season's European top-tier level EuroLeague competition, at the FIBA Intercontinental Cup, in order to determine an official club world cup champion. Currently, the champions of the FIBA Americas League contest the FIBA Intercontinental Cup against the champions of the European 3rd-tier level Champions League competition.

History

The Campeonato Sudamericano de Clubes (South American Club Championship), which was founded in 1946, was the first international competition that was played between basketball clubs from South America, and it was the first-tier and most important club competition in South America until 1995, when the new Liga Sudamericana de Básquetbol (South American League) supplanted it in importance from 1996 until 2007. With the emergence of the new FIBA Americas League in December 2007, the South American League became the second-tier international club championship in South America, beginning with the 2008 edition of the competition.

The FIBA Americas League was formed in 2007, as a professional intercontinental men's basketball club competition, under the organization of FIBA Americas, with the goal of creating a world-class top level multinational basketball league in the Americas region. The league was modeled after the EuroLeague, Europe's top-tier multinational club basketball league. The main reason for creating the league was the promotion and growth of the sport, and the increased level of competition that would come from the creation of a multinational super league in the FIBA Americas region.

Another one of the main goals in the creation of the league was to eventually revive the dormant FIBA Intercontinental Cup, so that clubs from the FIBA Americas region could once again directly compete against top EuroLeague teams in official games, and so that an official world cup championship could once again be contested. FIBA World decided to revive the FIBA Intercontinental Cup in 2013, deciding that the champions of the FIBA Americas League would play against the champions of the EuroLeague, to decide on the world club champion. It was then decided by FIBA World that the tournament would be played every year from then on for the foreseeable future.

Another goal in creating the league was to form a league system of teams that could form a partnership with the EuroLeague and NBA on playing friendly games during the preseason, in the same way that the EuroLeague and NBA teams were already playing against each other during the preseason. This was finally realized in the 2014–15 preseason, when teams from the FIBA Americas League played against teams from both the EuroLeague and the NBA.

Names of the top-tier level Latin American competition

CONSUBASQUET South American continental era: (1946–2007)
- Campeonato Sudamericano de Clubes (English: South American Club Championship): (1946–1995)
- Liga Sudamericana de Básquetbol (LSB) (English: South American Basketball League): (1996–2007)
FIBA Americas intercontinental era: (2007–present)
- FIBA Americas League: (2007–present)

Title holders of the top-tier level Latin American competition

South American continental era:

1946 Olimpia
1947–1953 Not held
1954 Olimpia
1955 Not held
1956 Defensor
1957 Not held
1958 Defensor
1959–1960 Not held
1961 Sírio
1962–1963 Not held
1964 Corinthians
1965–1966 Not held
1967 Thomas Bata
1968 Sírio
1969 Corinthians
1970 Sírio

1971 Sírio
1972 Sírio
1973 Not held
1974 Franca (Emmanuel)
1975 Franca (Amazonas)
1976 Not held
1977 Franca (Amazonas)
1978 Sírio
1979 Sírio
1980 Franca (Francana)
1981 Ferro Carril Oeste
1982 Ferro Carril Oeste
1983 Peñarol
1984 Sírio
1985 Monte Líbano
1986 Monte Líbano

1987 Ferro Carril Oeste
1988 Trotamundos de Carabobo
1989 Trotamundos de Carabobo
1990 Franca (Ravelli)
1991 Franca (Ravelli)
1992 Biguá
1993 Atenas
1994 Atenas
1995 Rio Claro
1996 Olimpia
1997 Atenas
1998 Atenas
1999 Vasco da Gama
2000 Vasco da Gama
2001 Estudiantes
2002 Libertad

2003 Not held
2004 Atenas
2005 Uberlândia (Unitri)
2006 Ben Hur
2007 Libertad

Americas intercontinental era:

Format

Under the original format, 16 participating clubs were divided in four groups, of four teams each. The top two clubs of each group qualified for the quarterfinals. The quarterfinals winners then played a four-team group stage, in a yet to be determined host city.^[2]

Under the current format, the 16 participating clubs are divided in four groups, of four teams each. The top two clubs of each group qualify for the semifinals. The semifinals winners qualify to play at the FIBA Americas League Final 4, in a yet to be determined host city. The final four format was held for the first time in 2014. The last game of the tournament is called the Grand Final.

Final Fours and Grand Finals (2007–present)

Year	Champion	Score	Second Place	Third Place	Fourth Place
Year	Grand Final			Final Four
2007–08 Details	Peñarol	League stage	Soles de Mexicali	Miami Tropics	Minas
2008–09 Details	Brasília	League stage	Halcones UV Xalapa	Biguá	Minas
2009–10 Details	Peñarol	League stage	Espartanos de Margarita	Halcones UV Xalapa	Quimsa
2010–11 Details	Regatas Corrientes	League stage	Capitanes de Arecibo	Halcones UV Xalapa	Halcones Rojos
2012 Details	Pioneros de Quintana Roo	League stage	La Unión	Obras Sanitarias	Brasília
2013 Details	Pinheiros	League stage	Lanús	Capitanes de Arecibo	Brasília
2014 Details	Flamengo	85–78	Pinheiros	Aguada	Halcones UV Xalapa
2015 Details	Bauru	86–72	Pioneros de Quintana Roo	Flamengo	Peñarol
2016 Details	Guaros de Lara	84–79	Bauru	Mogi das Cruzes	Flamengo
2017 Details	Guaros de Lara	88–65	Weber Bahía Blanca	Leones de Ponce	Fuerza Regia

Performances

By club

Team	Winners	Runners-Up	Third Place	Fourth Place
Peñarol	2 (2007–08, 2009–10)	0	0	1 (2015)
Guaros de Lara	2 (2016, 2017)	0	0	0
Bauru	1 (2015)	1 (2016)	0	0
Pinheiros	1 (2013)	1 (2014)	0	0
Pioneros de Quintana Roo	1 (2012)	1 (2015)	0	0
Flamengo	1 (2014)	0	1 (2015)	1 (2016)
Brasília	1 (2008–09)	0	0	2 (2012, 2013)
Regatas Corrientes	1 (2010–11)	0	0	0
Halcones UV Xalapa	0	1 (2008–09)	2 (2009–10, 2010–11)	1 (2014)
Capitanes de Arecibo	0	1 (2010–11)	1 (2013)	0
Soles de Mexicali	0	1 (2007–08)	0	0
Espartanos de Margarita	0	1 (2009–10)	0	0
La Unión de Formosa	0	1 (2012)	0	0
Lanús	0	1 (2013)	0	0
Weber Bahía Blanca	0	1 (2017)	0	0
Miami Tropics	0	0	1 (2007–08)	0
Biguá	0	0	1 (2008–09)	0
Obras Sanitarias	0	0	1 (2012)	0
Aguada	0	0	1 (2014)	0
Mogi das Cruzes	0	0	1 (2016)	0
Leones de Ponce	0	0	1 (2017)	0
Minas	0	0	0	2 (2007–08, 2008–09)
Quimsa	0	0	0	1 (2009–10)
Halcones Rojos	0	0	0	1 (2010–11)
Fuerza Regia	0	0	0	1 (2017)

By country

Nation	Winners	Runners-up	Third Place	Fourth Place
Brazil	4	2	2	5
Argentina	3	3	1	2
Venezuela	2	1	0	0
Mexico	1	3	2	3
Puerto Rico	0	1	2	0
Uruguay	0	0	2	0
United States	0	0	1	0