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.

Basketball Bundesliga
Founded1966 (1966)
First season1966–67
Country Germany
ConfederationFIBA Europe
Number of teams18
Level on pyramid1
Relegation toProA
Domestic cup(s)BBL-Pokal
SupercupBBL Champions Cup
International cup(s)EuroLeague
EuroCup
Champions League
FIBA Europe Cup
Current championsAlba Berlin
(9th title)
(2020)
Most championshipsBayer Giants Leverkusen
(14 titles)
TV partnersTelekom Entertain
Websitewww.basketball-bundesliga.de
2020–21 Basketball Bundesliga

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.

Since 2009, Brose Bamberg dominated the competition and won the title in four straight seasons (2009-2013). In 2012, Bayern Munich, the basketball team of the same-named football club, entered the league. Bayern became one of the wealthiest team in German basketball and won the championship in 2014.

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
  • 1966–20090Basketball Bundesliga
  • 2009–20160Beko BBL
  • 2016–20210easyCredit BBL[7]
  • Logo of 2010–2016

Clubs

Members of the 2020–21 Basketball Bundesliga.

Location of teams in 2020–21 Basketball Bundesliga
Team City Arena Capacity
Hamburg Towers Hamburg Edel-optics.de Arena
3,400
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
Löwen Braunschweig Braunschweig Volkswagen Halle
6,600
Niners Chemnitz Chemnitz Arena Chemnitz
5,200
Crailsheim Merlins Crailsheim Arena Hohenlohe
3,000
Skyliners Frankfurt Frankfurt Fraport Arena
5,002
Gießen 46ers Gießen Sporthalle Gießen-Ost
4,003
BG Göttingen Göttingen Sparkassen Arena
3,447
MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg Ludwigsburg MHP-Arena
5,300
Syntainics MBC Weißenfels Stadthalle Weißenfels
3,000
Bayern Munich Munich Audi Dome
6,700
Baskets Oldenburg Oldenburg Große EWE Arena
6,069
ratiopharm Ulm Ulm Arena Ulm/Neu-Ulm
6,000
Rasta Vechta Vechta Rasta Dome
3,140
s.Oliver Würzburg Würzburg s.Oliver Arena
3,140

Title holders
See also: List of German basketball champions

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
9
 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2007–08, 2019–20
Bayern Munich
5
 1953–54, 1954–55, 2013–14, 2017–18, 2018–19
Gießen 46ers
5
 1964–65, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1974–75, 1977–78
Turnerbund Heidelberg
4
 1947–48, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1952–53
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 Oldenburg 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
2018–19
 Bayern Munich
3–0
 Alba Berlin Bayern Munich
31–3
2019–20
 Alba Berlin
163–139[8]
 Riesen Ludwigsburg Bayern Munich
19–2

Awards
Main article: Basketball Bundesliga awards

Finals MVPs
Main article: Basketball Bundesliga Finals MVP
SeasonFinals MVP
2004–05 Chris Williams
2005–06 Immanuel McElroy
2006–07 Casey Jacobsen
2007–08 Julius Jenkins
2008–09 Rickey Paulding
2009–10 Casey Jacobsen
2010–11 Kyle Hines
2011–12 P. J. Tucker
2012–13 Anton Gavel
2013–14 Malcolm Delaney
2014–15 Brad Wanamaker
2015–16 Darius Miller
2016–17 Fabien Causeur
2017–18 Danilo Barthel
2018–19 Nihad Đedović
2019–20 Marcos Knight

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
  8. The season was finished in a tournament format due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany.
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