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

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	Alba Berlin (9th title) (2020)
Most championships	Bayer Giants Leverkusen (14 titles)
TV partners	Telekom Entertain
Website	www.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.

Bamberg

Bayreuth

Berlin

Bonn

Braunschweig

Chemnitz

Frankfurt

Gießen

Göttingen

Ludwigsburg

Munich

Oldenburg

Ulm

Vechta

Weißenfels

Würzburg

Location of teams in 2020–21 Basketball Bundesliga

Team	City	Arena	Capacity
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
Science City Jena	Jena	Sparkassen-Arena	3,000
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

1938–39 LSV Spandau 1939-46 Not held due to World War II 1946–47 MTSV Schwabing 1947–48 Turnerbund Heidelberg 1948–49 MTSV Schwabing 1949–50 Stuttgart-Degerloch 1950–51 Turnerbund Heidelberg 1951–52 Turnerbund Heidelberg 1952–53 Turnerbund Heidelberg 1953–54 Bayern Munich 1954–55 Bayern Munich 1955–56 ATV Düsseldorf 1956–57 USC Heidelberg 1957–58 USC Heidelberg 1958–59 USC Heidelberg 1959–60 USC Heidelberg 1960–61 USC Heidelberg 1961–62 USC Heidelberg 1962–63 Alemannia Aachen 1963–64 Alemannia Aachen 1964–65 Gießen 46ers 1965–66 USC Heidelberg 1966–67 Gießen 46ers 1967–68 Gießen 46ers 1968–69 Osnabrück

1969–70 TuS 04 Leverkusen 1970–71 TuS 04 Leverkusen 1971–72 TuS 04 Leverkusen 1972–73 USC Heidelberg 1973–74 SSV Hagen 1974–75 Gießen 46ers 1975–76 TuS 04 Leverkusen 1976–77 USC Heidelberg 1977–78 Gießen 46ers 1978–79 TuS 04 Leverkusen 1979–80 ASC 1846 Göttingen 1980–81 Saturn Köln 1981–82 Saturn Köln 1982–83 ASC 1846 Göttingen 1983–84 ASC 1846 Göttingen 1984–85 Bayer 04 Leverkusen 1985–86 Bayer 04 Leverkusen 1986–87 Saturn Köln 1987–88 Saturn Köln 1988–89 Steiner Bayreuth 1989–90 Bayer 04 Leverkusen 1990–91 Bayer 04 Leverkusen 1991–92 Bayer 04 Leverkusen 1992–93 Bayer 04 Leverkusen 1993–94 Bayer 04 Leverkusen

1994–95 Bayer 04 Leverkusen 1995–96 Bayer 04 Leverkusen 1996–97 Alba Berlin 1997–98 Alba Berlin 1998–99 Alba Berlin 1999–00 Alba Berlin 2000–01 Alba Berlin 2001–02 Alba Berlin 2002–03 Alba Berlin 2003–04 Opel Skyliners 2004–05 GHP Bamberg 2005–06 RheinEnergie Köln 2006–07 Brose Baskets 2007–08 Alba Berlin 2008–09 EWE Baskets Oldenburg 2009–10 Brose Baskets 2010–11 Brose Baskets 2011–12 Brose Baskets 2012–13 Brose Baskets 2013–14 Bayern Munich 2014–15 Brose Baskets 2015–16 Brose Baskets 2016–17 Brose Bamberg 2017–18 Bayern Munich 2018–19 Bayern Munich 2019–20 Alba Berlin

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

• Player nationality by national team.

Season	Finals 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

See also

• Basketball in Germany
• German Basketball League Champions
• German Basketball League Awards
• German Basketball Cup
• German Basketball Supercup
• German League All-Star Game

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.

External links

• Official website (in German)