Basketball Champions League

Basketball Champions League
Region Europe
Confederation FIBA Europe
Founded 21 March 2016 (2016-03-21)
First season 2016–17
Number of teams 32 (regular season)
56 (total)
Level on pyramid 3[Note FIBA]
Current champions Spain Iberostar Tenerife
(1st title)
TV partners livebasketball.tv (all matches)
Website www.basketballcl.com
2017–18 Basketball Champions League

The Basketball Champions League (BCL) is an annual professional basketball club competition organised by FIBA for eligible European basketball clubs. Clubs mainly qualify for the competition based on their performance in their national leagues and cup competitions, but this is not the only deciding factor, as sometimes clubs which did not finished in the highest place qualify.

Creation and adoption

In October 2015, FIBA attempted to take back control of Europe's 1st tier club competition,[1][2] by proposing a new competition, featuring 16 teams playing in a round-robin format, and granting eight guaranteed spots to different clubs. When the top European clubs decided to abide with the same competition format, but keeping the organization within Euroleague Basketball,[3] FIBA announced the launching of the new European basketball club competition,[4] with a qualification based on sporting merits.[5]

Format

Tournament

The tournament proper begins with a regular season of 32 teams, divided into four groups. Seeding is used whilst making the draw for this stage, whilst 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 winning team, runner-up, third-placed team, and fourth-placed team from each group then progress to the play-offs. The fifth-placed team and sixth-placed team enter the FIBA Europe Cup.[6]

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, and teams from the same association may not be drawn against each other. For the quarter-finals, the series winners between the winning teams and fourth-placed teams plays against the series winners between the runners-up and third-placed teams. From the quarter-finals onward, the draw is entirely random and is played in a neutral venue.[6]

The regular season is played from October to January, whilst the play-offs start in February. The play-off ties are played in a two-legged format, with the exception of the Final Four. This is typically held in the final week of April or the first week of May.[6]

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, an elegantly shaped basketball net forms the focus of the trophy. The abstract design, fused with delicate gold elements, creates the effect of a crown. This symbolises the champions that will eventually lift the magnificent piece.

Prize money

From 2016–17 to 2017–18, FIBA reduced the prize money from €5,200,000 to €3,500,000, but duplicating the prize for the winner from €500,000 to €1,000,000.[7][6] 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.[6]

Final Fours

Year Host Final Semifinalists
Champion Score Runner-up Third place Score Fourth place
2016–17
Details		 Spain
La Laguna		 Spain
Iberostar Tenerife		 63–59 Turkey
Banvit		 France
Monaco		 91–77 Italy
Umana Reyer Venezia

Awards

Winning rosters

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Note (FIBA): FIBA considers the BCL as the 2nd-tier level of basketball in Europe, instead of the EuroCup, but the competition is mainly regarded as the 3rd-tier level, ranking below the EuroLeague and the EuroCup, which are organized by Euroleague Basketball.

References

  1. ↑ "FIBA to welcome top European clubs for talks on new competition". FIBA. 27 October 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  2. ↑ "FIBA offers innovative partnership to top European clubs". FIBA. 3 November 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  3. ↑ "Euroleague Basketball A-licence clubs and IMG agree on 10-year joint venture". Euroleague Basketball. 10 November 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  4. ↑ "FIBA confirms launch of Basketball Champions League for 2016-17 season". BasketballCL.com. 26 November 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  5. ↑ "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.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Basketball Champions League regulations" (PDF). BasketballCL.com. 3 May 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  7. ↑ "Basketball Champions League regulations" (PDF). BasketballCL.com. 16 September 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.