Basketball in Spain

Basketball is a popular sport in Spain, second in popularity only to association football. The top Spanish League, Liga ACB, is a member of ULEB, and the top Spanish League teams can compete in Europe, most notably in the Euroleague and Eurocup, and also under the FIBA Europe umbrella, in the FIBA Europe Cup. The Spanish teams also compete in a national domestic cup competition each year, called the Copa del Rey de Baloncesto, which is played by the top eight teams in the standings of the Liga ACB, at the end of the first half of the regular season.

Basketball in Spain
Barclaycard Center, Real Madrid’s Stadium.
CountrySpain
Governing bodyFEB
National team(s)Spain
First played1923
Registered players385,110
Clubs3,619
National competitions
Club competitions
International competitions

Spanish basketball league system
Main article: Spanish basketball league system

The tier levels

For the 2018–19 season, the Spanish basketball league system is as follows:

Level League
1 Liga ACB
(18 teams)
(previously Liga Nacional)
2 LEB Oro
(18 teams)
3 LEB Plata
(24 teams)
4 Liga EBA Group A

(2 sub-groups of 14 teams each)		 Liga EBA Group B

(16 teams)		 Liga EBA Group C

(2 sub-groups of 14 teams each)		 Liga EBA Group D

(2 sub-groups of 10 teams each)		 Liga EBA Group E

(16 teams)
5 Primera División
(15 groups, one for each autonomous community except Basque Country, La Rioja, and Navarra, who share the same group; in Catalonia, known as Copa Catalunya)
Regional divisions

Evolution of the Spanish basketball league system
Tier\Years1957–781978–831983–901990–941994–961996–20002000–072007–092009–
11ª DivisiónACB
22ª División1ª División B1ª DivisiónEBALEB (since 2007, LEB Oro)
33ª División2ª DivisiónEBALEB 2 (since 2007, LEB Plata)
4Lower3ª DivisiónLowerLowerLower2ª DivisiónEBALEB BronceEBA
5LowerLower1ª DivisiónEBA1ª División
6Lower1ª DivisiónLower
7Lower

Spanish women's basketball league system
Level League
1 Liga Femenina
(14 teams)
2 Liga Femenina 2 Group A
(12 teams)		 Liga Femenina 2 Group B
(12 teams)
3 1ª División Group A
 1ª División Group B
 1ª División Group C
 1ª División Group D
 1ª División Group E
4 Regional divisions

Spain national basketball team

Men's team
Main article: Spain men's national basketball team

Women's team
Main article: Spain women's national basketball team

Autonomous teams

Like in football, several Autonomous Communities have their own autonomous team. These teams are not recognized by FIBA Europe, and only play in friendly games.

Between 2008 and 2010, the Torneo de las Naciones was played between the teams of Basque Country, Catalonia, and Galicia, and a foreign national team was invited. The following Autonomous Communities have played at least one friendly game:

  •  Andalusia
  •  Aragon
  •  Asturias
  •  Balearic Islands
  •  Basque Country
  •  Cantabria
  •  Castile and León
  •  Catalonia
  •  Galicia

Also,  Menorca has got a basketball team which plays biennially in the Island Games.

On the other hand, Gibraltar has its own national team recognized by FIBA Europe.  Gibraltar plays biannually in the European Basketball Championship for Small Countries and, like Menorca, the Island Games.

Other competitions
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