Basketball Bundesliga

Basketball Bundesliga
Country  Germany
Confederation FIBA Europe
Founded 1966 (1966)
First season 1966–67
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 Brose Bamberg
(9th title)
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

Teams

The line-up for the 2017–2018 season features the following teams:[8]


Team City Arena Capacity[9]
Brose Bamberg Bamberg Brose Arena
6,150
Medi bayreuth Bayreuth Oberfrankenhalle
4,000
Alba Berlin Berlin Mercedes-Benz Arena
14,500
Telekom Baskets Bonn Bonn Telekom Dome
6,000
Basketball Löwen Braunschweig Braunschweig Volkswagen Halle
6,600
Eisbären Bremerhaven Bremerhaven Bremerhaven Stadthalle
4,050
Skyliners Frankfurt Frankfurt Fraport Arena
5,002
Gießen 46ers Gießen Sporthalle Gießen-Ost
4,003
BG Göttingen Göttingen Sparkassen Arena
3,447
Oettinger Rockets Gotha Messe Erfurt
3,236
Science City Jena Jena Sparkassen-Arena
3,000
MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg Ludwigsburg MHP-Arena
5,300
Mitteldeutscher BC Weißenfels Stadthalle Weißenfels
3,000
Bayern Munich Munich Audi Dome
6,700
EWE Baskets Oldenburg Oldenburg Große EWE Arena
6,069
Tigers Tübingen Tübingen Paul Horn-Arena
3,132
ratiopharm Ulm Ulm Arena Ulm/Neu-Ulm
6,000
s.Oliver Würzburg Würzburg s.Oliver Arena
3,140

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
Heidelberg
13
1947–48, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1952–53, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1965–66, 1972–73, 1976–77
Brose Baskets
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
Saturn Köln
4
1980–81, 1981–82, 1986–87, 1987–88
Bayern Munich
3
1953–54, 1954–55, 2013–14
Göttingen
3
1979–80, 1982–83, 1983–84
Alemannia Aachen
2
1962–63, 1963–64
Schwabing
2
1946–47, 1948–49
Spandau
1
1938–39
Stuttgart-Degerloch
1
1949–50
Düsseldorf
1
1955–56
Osnabrück
1
1968–69
Hagen
1
1973–74
Steiner Bayreuth
1
1988–89
Opel Skyliners
1
2003–04
RheinEnergie Köln
1
2005–06
EWE Baskets
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
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
GHP Bamberg
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
3–2
Telekom Baskets Bonn Alba Berlin
26–8
2009–10
Brose Baskets
3–2
Deutsche Bank Skyliners EWE Baskets
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 Baskets
3–0
EWE Baskets ratiopharm Ulm
30–2

Awards

Finals MVPs

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

See also

References

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