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Wikipedia

British Basketball League

April 20, 2023

This article is about the basketball governing body. It is not to be confused with their senior elite competition, the BBL Championship.

The British Basketball League (BBL) is a men's professional basketball league in Great Britain and represents the highest level of play in the countries. The league is contested by 10 teams from England and Scotland. There are no clubs however from Wales or Northern Ireland.[1] The BBL runs three additional knockout competitions alongside the BBL Championship which are the BBL Cup, the BBL Trophy and the end-of-season BBL Playoffs.

British Basketball League
Founded1987; 36 years ago (1987)
First season1987–88
CountryUnited Kingdom
ConfederationFIBA Europe
Number of teams10
Level on pyramid1
Domestic cup(s)BBL Cup
BBL Trophy
International cup(s)Basketball Champions League
Europe Cup
Current championsLeicester Riders
(6th title)
(2021–22)
Most championshipsNewcastle Eagles
(7 titles)
TV partnersSky Sports
BBC Sport
YouTube
WebsiteBBL.org.uk
2022–23 British Basketball League season

The BBL sits above the National Basketball League and the Scottish Basketball Championship which effectively form the second tier of British basketball. There is currently no automatic promotion or relegation between the English and Scottish leagues and the BBL because of the franchise system in use in the BBL although several clubs have been successful in making the step up from the EBL in recent years.

The 10 member franchises of the BBL jointly own the league[2] and a chairman is elected by the teams to oversee league operations. The head offices are located in Leicester[3] where the country's oldest team the Leicester Riders are also based.

In partnership with Basketball England the BBL launched a women's league in 2014 branded as the Women's British Basketball League (WBBL).[4]

History

See: List of British Basketball League seasons

Establishment (1987–1992)

The British Basketball League was formed in 1987, with leading clubs from the National Basketball League of England and Scottish National Basketball League. In 1988, Portsmouth F.C. won the inaugural BBL Championship title; the following year saw Kingston win the first of three back-to-back league crowns.

Early growth (1992–2002)

The 1990s also saw a growth in popularity and commercialism within the league. Games were televised and the league picked up sponsors such as Peugeot, Lego, Playboy and Budweiser, while attendances at games also increased. The Manchester Giants opened the 1995–96 season in front of a record 14,251 fans at the Nynex Arena against the London Leopards, a record crowd for a basketball game in Great Britain. It stood until 2006, when the NBA started staging games at the O2 Arena in London.

London clubs dominated the league, with London Towers, Crystal Palace and the Greater London Leopards all sharing success in the mid-1990s. In 1999, a Conference format similar to the NBA was introduced, with clubs split North and South. The two Conference champions met in a Championship series to decide the champions for the next three years.

Tougher times (2002–2012)

A single division format returned in 2002 and five different franchises won the Championship title in the five years after that. The new millennium, however, also saw a series of setbacks for the BBL. The collapse of ITV Digital cost the league financially, with many franchises struggling to recover from the lost revenue that the £21 million contract was providing. Long established franchises such as the Manchester Giants, Essex Leopards, Derby Storm, Thames Valley Tigers and Birmingham Bullets withdrew from the league, though new teams have been formed under the Giants and Leopards names. The membership crisis brought about the addition of new franchises such as Guildford Heat (formed by supporters of the defunct Thames Valley Tigers), and elected teams from the lower-tier English Basketball League, including the Plymouth Raiders. Both teams made a refreshing impact on the old boys, with the Heat qualifying for the Play-offs in their rookie season.

During the same season Newcastle won 30 of their 40 regular season league fixtures to clinch the Championship crown – the previous season saw the Eagles win 31 matches but lose out to Chester Jets in the final week, by just two points. That title was one of four pieces of silverware won during the dubbed "clean-sweep" season of 2005–06, the Eagles marching on to claim the BBL Cup, BBL Trophy and Playoff's – the complete set.

Current setup (2012–present)

The intervening years saw the perennial success of the Newcastle Eagles, the reemergence of the Leicester Riders as a dominant force in the domestic game, and the rise and fall of teams based in London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Essex, Durham and Worthing. Long term franchise Milton Keynes relocated to London, to become a 2012 Olympics legacy tenant at the Copper Box Arena, and a new incarnation of the famous Manchester Giants name re-entered the league in the same year.

The 2015 Playoffs Final took place at The O2 Arena, London, following a string of sell-out attendances at Wembley Arena between 2012 and 2014.[5] The event saw a record breaking crowd of 14,700.[6]

The past decade has seen sustained growth across the league, with the biggest advances in facilities. Some clubs have now built their own venues, including Worcester, Newcastle and Leicester. Cheshire, Surrey and Glasgow have moved into much improved facilities, while Plymouth, Sheffield, Manchester and the most recent election from the EBL, the Bristol Flyers, have all announced plans for their own arenas. The 2018–19 season saw, for the first time in 11 years, British participation in European competition when Leicester competed in the Basketball Champions League and FIBA Europe Cup.

On December 2, 2021, the Miami-based investment firm 777 Partners bought 45.5% of the shares of the league. The company invested £7 million in the league, that also saw an organisational reform which included the appointment of a CEO.[7]

Rules

The BBL had a salary cap in place, named the "Team Payments Cap", which limited teams to spend no more than £250,000 on player salaries. The aim was to keep overall costs down for the teams while also ensuring competitive balance. The salary cap was dropped starting from the 2022-23 season, as it was stated to hamper the growth of BBL teams playing in European competitions.[8]

Teams

Current teams

class=notpageimage|
Locations of the 2021-22 BBL teams
Notes
  1. An asterisk (*) denotes a franchise move. See the respective team articles for more information.
  2. The Hemel & Watford Royals, Leicester City Riders and Sunderland 76ers were all participants in the previous top-flight league, the NBL, when it changed administration to the BBL in 1987.
  3. The Cheshire Jets and Sheffield Sharks were both promoted from the NBL in 1991 and 1994 respectively.
  4. Bristol Flyers (2014) have acquired a franchise licence to compete in the BBL, having previously competed in the EBL.

Proposed new teams

Team Location Status Founded Proposed first season
Reading Rockets   Reading Application submitted 1997 2023-24 [9]
Birmingham   Birmingham Intention to apply - 2023-24 [10]
Edinburgh   Edinburgh Intention to apply - 2023-24 [11]

Former teams

Main article: List of former British Basketball League teams

Apparel

As of the 2016–17 BBL season Italian sportswear manufacturer Kappa was the kit supplier for all teams.[12]

Corporate structure

Board members

The league is an independent company owned by its member clubs. Each club, or franchise, has an equal shareholding in the BBL and a representative on the board of directors,[2] thus is part of all decision-making regarding league policy, issues, and rules. Sir Rodney Walker is the current elected chairperson.

Chairs

Competitions

BBL Championship

Main article: BBL Championship

The BBL Championship is the flagship competition of the British Basketball League and features all member teams playing a double round robin (home and away) league season,[13] from September through to April.[14] Matches are played according to FIBA rules and games consist of four-quarters of 10 minutes each. Two points are awarded for a win,[13] with overtime used if the score is tied at the final buzzer – unlimited numbers of 5-minute overtime periods are played until one team is ahead when a period ends. At the end of the regular season, the team with the most points is crowned as winners of the BBL Championship, and thus British Champions. If points are equal between two or more teams then head-to-head results between said teams are used to determine the winners. In the case of a tie between multiple teams where this does not break the tie, the winners are then determined by the points difference in the games between said teams.[15] Following the completion of the Championship regular season, the top eight ranked teams advance into the post-season Playoffs which usually take place during April.[16]

In the regular season, team schedules are not identical and neither are matchdays, with games scheduled mainly around venue availability. Because of this teams may find themselves playing a series of four or five home games consecutively followed by a straight set of away games. As the regular season is also particularly short many games are played over weekends as 'doubleheaders', whereby a team will play games (possibly a home and away game) on consecutive days, something that is not commonplace in British sports, although often seen in the National Basketball Association[citation needed] and other North American sports.

Playoffs

The post-season Playoffs usually takes place in April, featuring the top eight ranked teams from the Championship regular season compete in a knockout tournament. Teams are seeded depending on their final positioning in the Championship standings, so first-place faces eighth-place, second versus seventh-place, third against sixth-place and finally fourth plays the fifth-placed team. Both the Quarterfinals and the succeeding Semifinals are played over a three-game series, with the higher seed getting two home games either side of the lower seeds home game. The team that wins two of the three games advances to the next round.[13][15] As with the Quarterfinals, teams in the Semifinals are also seeded, with the highest-ranking team drawn against the lowest-ranking team in one Semifinal and the two remaining teams drawn together in the other Semifinal. The culmination of the post-season is the grand Final, held at The O2 Arena in London, which sees the two Semi-final winners play a one-game event to determine the Playoff Champions.

BBL Cup

Main article: BBL Cup

The BBL Cup emerged from a breakaway of the English Basketball Association-organised National Cup and was contested for the first time in the 2003–04 season, when Sheffield Sharks were the inaugural winners. Since the 2019–20 season, the competition has a group stage followed by a knockout stage. The group stage consists of the teams being split into north and south groups and within each playing a double round-robin system. The top 4 teams from each group are then seeded with 1st of each group playing 4th in the other and 3rd in each group playing 2nd in the other. The winner of the Aggregate score going through to the semi-final. The winner of the aggregate score of each match in the semi-final then goes through to the BBL Cup Final.[17] The Cup final is played at the Arena Birmingham in Birmingham, usually in early January.[18]

BBL Trophy

Main article: BBL Trophy

The BBL Trophy traces its origins back to a previous competition known as the Anglo-Scottish Cup – and subsequently the British Master's Cup – which was founded in 1984 and was initially a competition between teams from both the English and Scottish leagues. Following the launch of the new British Basketball League administration in 1987 – who assumed control over the National Basketball League from the English Basketball Association – the British Master's Cup was scrapped and replaced with the newly formed League Trophy.[19] The Trophy competition has historically had a round-robin group stage format used for the first round, however the current competition is a knockout tournament with pairings drawn completely at random – there are no seeds, and a draw takes place after the majority of fixtures have been played in each round. As well as including all BBL member clubs, invited teams from the English Basketball League, and occasionally the Scottish Basketball League, often take part in the Trophy.[20] The Final is usually played in March at a neutral venue.[21]

European Competition

In 2018, the Leicester Riders competed in Europe's third tier of continental basketball, the Basketball Champions League, losing in the first qualification round on aggregate to the Bakken Bears.[22] They became the first British team to compete in European competition since the Guildford Heat featured in the ULEB Cup during the 2007–08 season.

Following their elimination from the Basketball Champions League, the Leicester Riders played in the 2018–19 FIBA Europe Cup, Europe's fourth tier.[23][24]

To be eligible for entry into the Basketball Champions League or the FIBA Europe Cup, teams must play in arenas with a capacity of at least 2,000 people.[25] Currently the BBL member teams that meet the tournaments' requirements are Leicester, Glasgow, London, Newcastle and Worcester. Bristol[26] and Manchester[27] have both begun work on suitable arenas. Worcester were awarded a B-Licence by the EuroLeague, the top tier of European competition, for the 2014–2015 season having won the 2014 BBL Playoffs.[28] Newcastle,[29] London,[30] Glasgow,[31] and Bristol[26] have all signalled their intentions of playing at a European level in the near future.

Players

All-time statistics leaders

Bold indicates active BBL players.

Last Updated on 20 September 2012

Foreign imports

British Basketball League rules currently allow for each team to have a maximum of three "import" players – from outside of the European Union (EU) and require a work permit to play – whilst the remaining players on the roster must have citizenship of an EU country, either by birth or by naturalisation.[32] The current ruling was integrated at the beginning of the 2006–07 season, reverting from the previous law which allowed for up to four non-EU players on a roster, along with naturalised players.

New rules introduced for the 2012–13 season allow teams to field a maximum of five non-British players per game (including up to three work permitted players), further demonstrating the League's commitment towards developing British players.[33]

Transfer regulations

According to BBL rules, teams must field no more than six import (non-EU) players in any one season, though only three are allowed to be registered to a roster at any one time. Signings are allowed to be made throughout the pre-season and during the regular season until the league's transfer deadline on 28 February, or if during a leap year, the date is 29 February.

Notable former players

Results

League

Present clubs

Historical

Season Champions Runners Up Third Place
1987–88 Portsmouth (1) Kingston Kings Murray Livingston
1988–89 Glasgow Rangers (1) Murray Livingston Bracknell Tigers
1989–90 Kingston Kings (1) Manchester Giants Sunderland 76ers
1990–91 Kingston Kings (2) Sunderland Saints Thames Valley Tigers
1991–92 Kingston Kings (3) Thames Valley Tigers Worthing Bears
1992–93 Worthing Bears (1) Thames Valley Tigers London Towers
1993–94 Thames Valley Tigers (1) Worthing Bears Manchester Giants
1994–95 Sheffield Sharks (1) Thames Valley Tigers London Towers
1995–96 London Towers (1) Sheffield Sharks Birmingham Bullets
1996–97 Leopards (1) London Towers Sheffield Sharks
1997–98 Leopards (2) Birmingham Bullets Newcastle Eagles
1998–99 Sheffield Sharks (2) Manchester Giants London Towers
Season North Champions North Runners Up South Champions South Runners Up
1999–00 Manchester Giants Sheffield Sharks London Towers Thames Valley Tigers
2000–01 Sheffield Sharks Chester Jets London Towers Greater London Leopards
2001–02 Chester Jets Sheffield Sharks London Towers Brighton Bears
Season Champions Runners Up Third Place
2002–03 Sheffield Sharks (3) Brighton Bears Chester Jets
2003–04 Brighton Bears (2) Sheffield Sharks London Towers
2004–05 Chester Jets (1) Newcastle Eagles London Towers
2005–06 Newcastle Eagles (1) Scottish Rocks Sheffield Sharks
2006–07 Guildford Heat (1) Sheffield Sharks Newcastle Eagles
2007–08 Newcastle Eagles (2) Guildford Heat Plymouth Raiders
2008–09 Newcastle Eagles (3) Mersey Tigers Leicester Riders
2009–10 Newcastle Eagles (4) Sheffield Sharks Glasgow Rocks
2010–11 Mersey Tigers (1) Newcastle Eagles Sheffield Sharks
2011–12 Newcastle Eagles (5) Leicester Riders Worcester Wolves
2012–13 Leicester Riders (1) Newcastle Eagles Glasgow Rocks
2013–14 Newcastle Eagles (6) Sheffield Sharks Worcester Wolves
2014–15 Newcastle Eagles (7) Leicester Riders Worcester Wolves
2015–16 Leicester Riders (2) Newcastle Eagles Sheffield Sharks
2016–17 Leicester Riders (3) Newcastle Eagles Glasgow Rocks
2017–18 Leicester Riders (4) London Lions Newcastle Eagles
2018–19 London Lions (1) Leicester Riders Newcastle Eagles
2019–20 Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21 Leicester Riders (5) London Lions Plymouth Raiders
2021-22 Leicester Riders (6) Sheffield Sharks London Lions
2022-23 London Lions (2)

Playoffs

Season Champions Result Runners Up Venue
1987–88 Murray Livingston (1) 81–72 Portsmouth Wembley Arena, London
1988–89 Glasgow Rangers (1) 89–86 Murray Livingston NEC, Birmingham
1989–90 Kingston Kings (2) 87–82 Sunderland 76ers NEC, Birmingham
1990–91 Kingston Kings (3) 94–72 Sunderland Saints NEC, Birmingham
1991–92 Kingston Kings (4) 84–67 Thames Valley Tigers Wembley Arena, London
1992–93 Worthing Bears (1) 75–74 Thames Valley Tigers Wembley Arena, London
1993–94 Worthing Bears (2) 71–65 Guildford Kings Wembley Arena, London
1994–95 Worthing Bears (3) 77–73 Manchester Giants Wembley Arena, London
1995–96 Birmingham Bullets (1) 78–72 London Towers Wembley Arena, London
1996–97 London Towers (1) 89–88 London Leopards Wembley Arena, London
1997–98 Birmingham Bullets (2) 78–75 Thames Valley Tigers Wembley Arena, London
1998–99 London Towers (2) 82–71 Thames Valley Tigers Wembley Arena, London
1999–00 Manchester Giants (1) 74–65 Birmingham Bullets Wembley Arena, London
2000–01 Leicester Riders (1) 84–75 Sheffield Sharks Wembley Arena, London
2001–02 Chester Jets (1) 93–82 Sheffield Sharks Wembley Arena, London
2002–03 Scottish Rocks (1) 83–76 Brighton Bears National Indoor Arena, Birmingham
2003–04 Sheffield Sharks (1) 86–74 Chester Jets National Indoor Arena, Birmingham
2004–05 Newcastle Eagles (1) 78–75 Chester Jets National Indoor Arena, Birmingham
2005–06 Newcastle Eagles (2) 83–68 Scottish Rocks National Indoor Arena, Birmingham
2006–07 Newcastle Eagles (3) 95–82 Scottish Rocks Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne
2007–08 Guildford Heat (1) 100–88 Milton Keynes Lions National Indoor Arena, Birmingham
2008–09 Newcastle Eagles (4) 87–84 Mersey Tigers National Indoor Arena, Birmingham
2009–10 Mersey Tigers (1) 80–72 Glasgow Rocks National Indoor Arena, Birmingham
2010–11 Mersey Tigers (2) 79–74 Sheffield Sharks National Indoor Arena, Birmingham
2011–12 Newcastle Eagles (5) 71–62 Leicester Riders National Indoor Arena, Birmingham
2012–13 Leicester Riders (2) 68–57 Newcastle Eagles Wembley Arena, London
2013–14 Worcester Wolves (1) 90–78 Newcastle Eagles Wembley Arena, London
2014–15 Newcastle Eagles (6) 96–84 London Lions The O2 Arena, London
2015–16 Sheffield Sharks (2) 85–78 Leicester Riders The O2 Arena, London
2016–17 Leicester Riders (3) 84–63 Newcastle Eagles The O2 Arena, London
2017–18 Leicester Riders (4) 81–66 London Lions The O2 Arena, London
2018–19 Leicester Riders (5) 93–61 London City Royals The O2 Arena, London
2020–21 Newcastle Eagles (7) 68–66 London Lions Morningside Arena, Leicester
2021–22 Leicester Riders (6) 78–75 London Lions The O2 Arena, London

Honours board

Rank Team Wins RU Wins RU Wins RU Wins RU Wins RU
BBL Championship BBL Playoffs BBL Cup BBL Trophy Total
1 Newcastle Eagles 7 6 7 5 7 4 7 4 28 19
2 Leicester Riders 6 3 6 2 4 5 3 4 19 14
3 Guildford Kings† 4 1 4 1 4 0 3 1 15 3
4 Sheffield Sharks 4 6 2 3 6 2 2 2 14 13
5 London Towers† 4 1 2 1 1 1 3 2 10 5
6 Cheshire Phoenix 2 1 1 2 2 2 5 3 10 8
7 Brighton Bears† 2 3 3 1 3 1 0 3 8 8
8 London Lions 2 2 0 5 3 1 1 3 6 11
9 Thames Valley Tigers† 1 4 0 4 2 3 4 0 7 11
10 Mersey Tigers† 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 0 5 3
11 Surrey Scorchers 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 2 4 3
12 Manchester Giants† 1 2 1 1 0 2 1 4 3 9
13 Essex Leopards† 2 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 3 4
14 Worcester Wolves† 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 3 1
15 Caledonia Gladiators 0 1 1 3 0 4 1 1 2 9
16 Livingston† 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 2 3
17 Birmingham Bullets† 0 1 2 1 0 1 0 0 2 3
18 Plymouth Raiders† 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 3 1 5
19 Portsmouth† 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 3
20 London City Royals† 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1
21 Derby Storm† 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
22 Solent Kestrels 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
23 Bristol Flyers 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
24 Manchester Giants 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1

*Note: † Defunct club.

*Note: This is a ranking of all BBL clubs titles won both throughout BBL history and including pre-BBL titles.

*Note: Manchester Giants refers to the first franchise with this name rather than the current franchise of the same name.

Soruce: Honours board


Media coverage

Basketball receives little national press coverage in the United Kingdom, although coverage is more extensive from the local newspapers in cities where BBL clubs are based, with publications such as The Plymouth Herald, Manchester Evening News, Leicester Mercury and the Newcastle Chronicle all having dedicated basketball reporters who cover the respective local team. Some national newspapers list results and occasionally provide short summaries of the League's news, but more extensive coverage remains minimal.

The history of television coverage of the BBL has been sporadic. Previously the League enjoyed coverage from Channel 4 in the 1980s and Sky Sports from 1995 to 2001, where audiences peaked at around 150,000 viewers.[34] The League signed a three-year broadcast deal with the ill-fated digital TV company ITV Digital in 2001, and coverage suffered a sharp decline as the broadcaster struggled and eventually went out of business, resulting in a significant loss of income to member clubs.[35] Television coverage was then infrequent until the 2007–08 season, when international broadcaster Setanta Sports signed a deal to screen one live game a week.[36] In 2010, the League agreed a broadcast rights deal with BSkyB network Sky Sports marking the return of BBL action on Sky Sports after a 9-year gap.[37] The League's own subscription-based online TV station, BBL TV, took over the broadcast of live games from 2013 to 2015, and during the 2013–14 season match highlights were also televised and featured on British Eurosport each week.[38]

In July 2016, the league signed a two-year broadcast deal with the BBC, featuring both British Basketball League and Women's British Basketball League games. The games would be broadcast on the BBC Sport website with the showpiece finals also being broadcast on the BBC Red Button.[39] Alongside the BBC deal, a six-year deal with Perform was signed[40] which saw every BBL game broadcast via LiveBasketball.TV,[41] and a deal followed a year later with UNILAD to broadcast one game a week live via Facebook.[42] FreeSports signed a deal with the league in January 2018 to broadcast games for the remainder of the season, starting with the BBL Cup Final between Worcester Wolves and Cheshire Phoenix.

In November 2020, coverage of the league returned to Sky Sports in a new two-year deal which sees Sky broadcasting 30 games per season, including BBL Trophy Final, BBL Cup Final and BBL Playoffs.[43] This has been extended to cover the 2022/23 season.

Awards

See also

Notes

  1. ^ as Cheshire Jets
  2. ^ as Guildford Heat
  3. ^ as Scottish Rocks

References

  1. ^ A single club from Northern Ireland, Belfast Star, play in the Irish Super League, the highest level competition in Ireland, and Basketball in Ireland operates on a broadly all-island basis.
  2. ^ a b "British Basketball League". BBL. 4 November 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  3. ^ . Uleb.com. Archived from the original on 8 December 2013. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  4. ^ . EnglandBasketball.co.uk. 2014. Archived from the original on 6 June 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  5. ^ . Archived from the original on 5 January 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  6. ^ . Archived from the original on 5 January 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  7. ^ "BBL and 777 Partners agree £7 million investment deal". British Basketball League. 20 December 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  8. ^ "British Basketball League removes Team Payments Cap". Eurohoops. 10 July 2022. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  9. ^ UPDATE: ROCKETS BBL APPLICATION - Reading Rockets
  10. ^ Investment group looking to establish BBL franchise in Birmingham - Hoopsfix
  11. ^ Sheffield Sharks left flying the Yorkshire flag in BBL expansion plans - Yorkshire Post
  12. ^ . Archived from the original on 2 March 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  13. ^ a b c "British Basketball League". BBL. 10 July 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  14. ^ "British Basketball League". BBL. 4 November 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  15. ^ a b "British Basketball League". BBL. 10 July 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  16. ^ "British Basketball League". BBL. 4 November 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  17. ^ "BBL Cup". BBL.org.uk. 10 July 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  18. ^ "BBL Cup". BBL.org.uk. 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  19. ^ Page 29 British Basketball League 1996/97 Handbook
  20. ^ "BBL Cup, Trophy draws made". MVP24-7.com. 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  21. ^ "BBL Trophy". BBL.org.uk. 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  22. ^ "Leicester Riders Fall to Bakken Bears". Leicester Riders. 22 September 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  23. ^ "FIBA Europe Cup Games Confirmed & Tickets On Sale". Leicester Riders. 30 September 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  24. ^ "Eight Teams Join FIBA Europe Cup from Basketball Champions League". FIBA. 24 September 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  25. ^ . Archived from the original on 10 November 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  26. ^ a b "Bristol Flyers Reveal Plans for New Arena". Bristol Flyers. 18 September 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  27. ^ "Manchester Giants to Move into New 2000+ Seat Venue from 2019". Hoopsfix. 8 February 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  28. ^ "2014-15 Turkish Airlines Euroleague licence allocation criteria". Welcome to EUROLEAGUE BASKETBALL. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  29. ^ Rayner, Stuart (3 September 2016). "Newcastle Eagles hoping to build for Europe – and pre-season tournament is foundation". nechronicle. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  30. ^ "British Basketball League hopeful clubs will return to Europe, with more money behind them | Featured News| News | Sportcal". www.sportcal.com. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  31. ^ "'Success is easy to measure. It's shiny, it's silver and you hold it up': New Glasgow Rocks owner Duncan Smillie sets out his stall". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  32. ^ Richard Spiller (2008). "Heat off to winning start". getSurrey.co.uk. Retrieved 8 November 2010.
  33. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". BBL.org.uk. 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  34. ^ Richard Taylor (8 September 1998). "How Murdoch has changed the face of British sport". The Independent. London. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
  35. ^ "Jets count cost of digital crash". Chester Chronicle. 23 January 2004.
  36. ^ Mark Woods (2008). "Basketball back on the box". Sunday Mail. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
  37. ^ "British Basketball League". BBL. 4 November 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  38. ^ "Sky falls in for BBL TV coverage". MVP247.com. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  39. ^ . bbl.org.uk. Archived from the original on 4 January 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  40. ^ . bbl.org.uk. Archived from the original on 12 November 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  41. ^ . bbl.org.uk. Archived from the original on 12 November 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  42. ^ "BBL Announce Deal with UniLad for Weekly Facebook Stream". hoopsfix.com.
  43. ^ "British Basketball League returns to Sky Sports". bbl.org.uk. 13 November 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.

External links

  • Official website  

April 20, 2023
british, basketball, league, this, article, about, basketball, governing, body, confused, with, their, senior, elite, competition, championship, professional, basketball, league, great, britain, represents, highest, level, play, countries, league, contested, t. This article is about the basketball governing body It is not to be confused with their senior elite competition the BBL Championship The British Basketball League BBL is a men s professional basketball league in Great Britain and represents the highest level of play in the countries The league is contested by 10 teams from England and Scotland There are no clubs however from Wales or Northern Ireland 1 The BBL runs three additional knockout competitions alongside the BBL Championship which are the BBL Cup the BBL Trophy and the end of season BBL Playoffs British Basketball LeagueFounded1987 36 years ago 1987 First season1987 88CountryUnited KingdomConfederationFIBA EuropeNumber of teams10Level on pyramid1Domestic cup s BBL CupBBL TrophyInternational cup s Basketball Champions LeagueEurope CupCurrent championsLeicester Riders 6th title 2021 22 Most championshipsNewcastle Eagles 7 titles TV partnersSky SportsBBC SportYouTubeWebsiteBBL org uk2022 23 British Basketball League seasonThe BBL sits above the National Basketball League and the Scottish Basketball Championship which effectively form the second tier of British basketball There is currently no automatic promotion or relegation between the English and Scottish leagues and the BBL because of the franchise system in use in the BBL although several clubs have been successful in making the step up from the EBL in recent years The 10 member franchises of the BBL jointly own the league 2 and a chairman is elected by the teams to oversee league operations The head offices are located in Leicester 3 where the country s oldest team the Leicester Riders are also based In partnership with Basketball England the BBL launched a women s league in 2014 branded as the Women s British Basketball League WBBL 4 Contents 1 History 1 1 Establishment 1987 1992 1 2 Early growth 1992 2002 1 3 Tougher times 2002 2012 1 4 Current setup 2012 present 2 Rules 3 Teams 3 1 Current teams 3 2 Proposed new teams 3 3 Former teams 3 4 Apparel 4 Corporate structure 4 1 Board members 4 2 Chairs 5 Competitions 5 1 BBL Championship 5 2 Playoffs 5 3 BBL Cup 5 4 BBL Trophy 5 5 European Competition 6 Players 6 1 All time statistics leaders 6 2 Foreign imports 6 3 Transfer regulations 6 4 Notable former players 7 Results 7 1 League 7 1 1 Present clubs 7 1 2 Historical 7 2 Playoffs 7 3 Honours board 8 Media coverage 9 Awards 10 See also 11 Notes 12 References 13 External linksHistory EditSee List of British Basketball League seasonsEstablishment 1987 1992 Edit The British Basketball League was formed in 1987 with leading clubs from the National Basketball League of England and Scottish National Basketball League In 1988 Portsmouth F C won the inaugural BBL Championship title the following year saw Kingston win the first of three back to back league crowns Early growth 1992 2002 Edit The 1990s also saw a growth in popularity and commercialism within the league Games were televised and the league picked up sponsors such as Peugeot Lego Playboy and Budweiser while attendances at games also increased The Manchester Giants opened the 1995 96 season in front of a record 14 251 fans at the Nynex Arena against the London Leopards a record crowd for a basketball game in Great Britain It stood until 2006 when the NBA started staging games at the O2 Arena in London London clubs dominated the league with London Towers Crystal Palace and the Greater London Leopards all sharing success in the mid 1990s In 1999 a Conference format similar to the NBA was introduced with clubs split North and South The two Conference champions met in a Championship series to decide the champions for the next three years Tougher times 2002 2012 Edit A single division format returned in 2002 and five different franchises won the Championship title in the five years after that The new millennium however also saw a series of setbacks for the BBL The collapse of ITV Digital cost the league financially with many franchises struggling to recover from the lost revenue that the 21 million contract was providing Long established franchises such as the Manchester Giants Essex Leopards Derby Storm Thames Valley Tigers and Birmingham Bullets withdrew from the league though new teams have been formed under the Giants and Leopards names The membership crisis brought about the addition of new franchises such as Guildford Heat formed by supporters of the defunct Thames Valley Tigers and elected teams from the lower tier English Basketball League including the Plymouth Raiders Both teams made a refreshing impact on the old boys with the Heat qualifying for the Play offs in their rookie season During the same season Newcastle won 30 of their 40 regular season league fixtures to clinch the Championship crown the previous season saw the Eagles win 31 matches but lose out to Chester Jets in the final week by just two points That title was one of four pieces of silverware won during the dubbed clean sweep season of 2005 06 the Eagles marching on to claim the BBL Cup BBL Trophy and Playoff s the complete set Current setup 2012 present Edit The intervening years saw the perennial success of the Newcastle Eagles the reemergence of the Leicester Riders as a dominant force in the domestic game and the rise and fall of teams based in London Birmingham Liverpool Essex Durham and Worthing Long term franchise Milton Keynes relocated to London to become a 2012 Olympics legacy tenant at the Copper Box Arena and a new incarnation of the famous Manchester Giants name re entered the league in the same year The 2015 Playoffs Final took place at The O2 Arena London following a string of sell out attendances at Wembley Arena between 2012 and 2014 5 The event saw a record breaking crowd of 14 700 6 The past decade has seen sustained growth across the league with the biggest advances in facilities Some clubs have now built their own venues including Worcester Newcastle and Leicester Cheshire Surrey and Glasgow have moved into much improved facilities while Plymouth Sheffield Manchester and the most recent election from the EBL the Bristol Flyers have all announced plans for their own arenas The 2018 19 season saw for the first time in 11 years British participation in European competition when Leicester competed in the Basketball Champions League and FIBA Europe Cup On December 2 2021 the Miami based investment firm 777 Partners bought 45 5 of the shares of the league The company invested 7 million in the league that also saw an organisational reform which included the appointment of a CEO 7 Rules EditThe BBL had a salary cap in place named the Team Payments Cap which limited teams to spend no more than 250 000 on player salaries The aim was to keep overall costs down for the teams while also ensuring competitive balance The salary cap was dropped starting from the 2022 23 season as it was stated to hamper the growth of BBL teams playing in European competitions 8 Teams EditCurrent teams Edit Flyers Gladiators Phoenix Riders Lions Giants Eagles Patriots Sharks Scorchersclass notpageimage Locations of the 2021 22 BBL teams Team Location Arena Capacity Founded JoinedBristol Flyers Bristol SGS College Arena 750 2006 2014Cheshire Phoenix Ellesmere Port Cheshire Oaks Arena 1 400 1984 1991Caledonia Gladiators Glasgow Emirates Arena 6 500 1998 Leicester Riders Leicester Morningside Arena 2 400 1967 1987London Lions London Stratford Copper Box Arena 6 000 1977 1987Manchester Giants Manchester National Basketball Centre 2 000 2012Newcastle Eagles Newcastle upon Tyne Vertu Motors Arena 3 000 1976 1987Plymouth City Patriots Plymouth Plymouth Pavilions 1 500 2021Sheffield Sharks Sheffield Ponds Forge 1 000 1991 1994Surrey Scorchers Guildford Surrey Sports Park 1 000 2005NotesAn asterisk denotes a franchise move See the respective team articles for more information The Hemel amp Watford Royals Leicester City Riders and Sunderland 76ers were all participants in the previous top flight league the NBL when it changed administration to the BBL in 1987 The Cheshire Jets and Sheffield Sharks were both promoted from the NBL in 1991 and 1994 respectively Bristol Flyers 2014 have acquired a franchise licence to compete in the BBL having previously competed in the EBL Proposed new teams Edit Team Location Status Founded Proposed first seasonReading Rockets Reading Application submitted 1997 2023 24 9 Birmingham Birmingham Intention to apply 2023 24 10 Edinburgh Edinburgh Intention to apply 2023 24 11 Former teams Edit Main article List of former British Basketball League teams Apparel Edit As of the 2016 17 BBL season Italian sportswear manufacturer Kappa was the kit supplier for all teams 12 Corporate structure EditBoard members Edit The league is an independent company owned by its member clubs Each club or franchise has an equal shareholding in the BBL and a representative on the board of directors 2 thus is part of all decision making regarding league policy issues and rules Sir Rodney Walker is the current elected chairperson Chairs Edit John Deacon 1987 to 1988 Kevin Routledge 1988 to 2002 Vince Macaulay 2002 to 2006 Paul Blake 2006 to 2013 Ed Percival 2013 to 2015 Sir Rodney Walker 2016 to present Competitions EditBBL Championship Edit Main article BBL Championship The BBL Championship is the flagship competition of the British Basketball League and features all member teams playing a double round robin home and away league season 13 from September through to April 14 Matches are played according to FIBA rules and games consist of four quarters of 10 minutes each Two points are awarded for a win 13 with overtime used if the score is tied at the final buzzer unlimited numbers of 5 minute overtime periods are played until one team is ahead when a period ends At the end of the regular season the team with the most points is crowned as winners of the BBL Championship and thus British Champions If points are equal between two or more teams then head to head results between said teams are used to determine the winners In the case of a tie between multiple teams where this does not break the tie the winners are then determined by the points difference in the games between said teams 15 Following the completion of the Championship regular season the top eight ranked teams advance into the post season Playoffs which usually take place during April 16 In the regular season team schedules are not identical and neither are matchdays with games scheduled mainly around venue availability Because of this teams may find themselves playing a series of four or five home games consecutively followed by a straight set of away games As the regular season is also particularly short many games are played over weekends as doubleheaders whereby a team will play games possibly a home and away game on consecutive days something that is not commonplace in British sports although often seen in the National Basketball Association citation needed and other North American sports Playoffs Edit The post season Playoffs usually takes place in April featuring the top eight ranked teams from the Championship regular season compete in a knockout tournament Teams are seeded depending on their final positioning in the Championship standings so first place faces eighth place second versus seventh place third against sixth place and finally fourth plays the fifth placed team Both the Quarterfinals and the succeeding Semifinals are played over a three game series with the higher seed getting two home games either side of the lower seeds home game The team that wins two of the three games advances to the next round 13 15 As with the Quarterfinals teams in the Semifinals are also seeded with the highest ranking team drawn against the lowest ranking team in one Semifinal and the two remaining teams drawn together in the other Semifinal The culmination of the post season is the grand Final held at The O2 Arena in London which sees the two Semi final winners play a one game event to determine the Playoff Champions BBL Cup Edit Main article BBL Cup The BBL Cup emerged from a breakaway of the English Basketball Association organised National Cup and was contested for the first time in the 2003 04 season when Sheffield Sharks were the inaugural winners Since the 2019 20 season the competition has a group stage followed by a knockout stage The group stage consists of the teams being split into north and south groups and within each playing a double round robin system The top 4 teams from each group are then seeded with 1st of each group playing 4th in the other and 3rd in each group playing 2nd in the other The winner of the Aggregate score going through to the semi final The winner of the aggregate score of each match in the semi final then goes through to the BBL Cup Final 17 The Cup final is played at the Arena Birmingham in Birmingham usually in early January 18 BBL Trophy Edit Main article BBL Trophy The BBL Trophy traces its origins back to a previous competition known as the Anglo Scottish Cup and subsequently the British Master s Cup which was founded in 1984 and was initially a competition between teams from both the English and Scottish leagues Following the launch of the new British Basketball League administration in 1987 who assumed control over the National Basketball League from the English Basketball Association the British Master s Cup was scrapped and replaced with the newly formed League Trophy 19 The Trophy competition has historically had a round robin group stage format used for the first round however the current competition is a knockout tournament with pairings drawn completely at random there are no seeds and a draw takes place after the majority of fixtures have been played in each round As well as including all BBL member clubs invited teams from the English Basketball League and occasionally the Scottish Basketball League often take part in the Trophy 20 The Final is usually played in March at a neutral venue 21 European Competition Edit In 2018 the Leicester Riders competed in Europe s third tier of continental basketball the Basketball Champions League losing in the first qualification round on aggregate to the Bakken Bears 22 They became the first British team to compete in European competition since the Guildford Heat featured in the ULEB Cup during the 2007 08 season Following their elimination from the Basketball Champions League the Leicester Riders played in the 2018 19 FIBA Europe Cup Europe s fourth tier 23 24 To be eligible for entry into the Basketball Champions League or the FIBA Europe Cup teams must play in arenas with a capacity of at least 2 000 people 25 Currently the BBL member teams that meet the tournaments requirements are Leicester Glasgow London Newcastle and Worcester Bristol 26 and Manchester 27 have both begun work on suitable arenas Worcester were awarded a B Licence by the EuroLeague the top tier of European competition for the 2014 2015 season having won the 2014 BBL Playoffs 28 Newcastle 29 London 30 Glasgow 31 and Bristol 26 have all signalled their intentions of playing at a European level in the near future Players EditAll time statistics leaders Edit Bold indicates active BBL players Points Rank Player Games Pts 1 Peter Scantlebury 540 8 3242 Nigel Lloyd 402 7 8383 Billy Singleton 454 6 9504 Mike New 431 6 0005 Yorick Williams 448 5 9976 Tony Windless 404 5 9487 Robert Youngblood 494 5 9438 Russ Saunders 241 5 8559 Tony Dorsey 273 5 82610 Tony Holley 398 5 703 Total Rebounds Rank Player Games Reb 1 Tony Holley 398 3 9852 Billy Singleton 454 3 4603 Mike New 431 3 3694 Robert Youngblood 494 3 0885 Jason Siemon 353 3 0576 Peter Scantlebury 540 3 0047 Fab Flournoy 498 2 9108 Martin Henlan 336 2 8099 Shawn Myers 305 2 67410 Tony Windless 404 2 577 Assists Rank Player Games Ast 1 Nigel Lloyd 402 1 9092 DeShawn Evans 289 1 7253 Fab Flournoy 499 1 6314 Jermaine Hart 228 1 5375 Jordan Moon 289 1 5116 Ronnie Barker 540 1 4707 Neil Rodgers 392 1 2938 Alton Byrd 152 1 1889 Peter Scantlebury 540 1 04610 211 1 017 Steals Rank Player Games Stl 1 Fab Flournoy 498 7642 Nigel Lloyd 402 7223 Russ Saunders 241 6864 Billy Singleton 454 6855 Peter Scantlebury 540 6756 John Tresvant 276 6047 Jason Siemon 353 5958 Ronnie Baker 539 5759 T J Walker 241 56610 Steve Nelson 369 553 Last Updated on 20 September 2012 Foreign imports Edit British Basketball League rules currently allow for each team to have a maximum of three import players from outside of the European Union EU and require a work permit to play whilst the remaining players on the roster must have citizenship of an EU country either by birth or by naturalisation 32 The current ruling was integrated at the beginning of the 2006 07 season reverting from the previous law which allowed for up to four non EU players on a roster along with naturalised players New rules introduced for the 2012 13 season allow teams to field a maximum of five non British players per game including up to three work permitted players further demonstrating the League s commitment towards developing British players 33 Transfer regulations Edit According to BBL rules teams must field no more than six import non EU players in any one season though only three are allowed to be registered to a roster at any one time Signings are allowed to be made throughout the pre season and during the regular season until the league s transfer deadline on 28 February or if during a leap year the date is 29 February Notable former players Edit Kieron Achara John Amaechi Andrew Betts Matthew Bryan Amaning Steve Bucknall Dave Gardner Trevor Gordon Skouson Harker Chris Haslam Roger Huggins Iain MacLean Richard Midgley Robbie Peers Peter Scantlebury Greg Francis Ricardo Greer Pero Cameron Ted Berry Flinder Boyd Rod Brown Eric Burks Alton Byrd Terry Crosby Tony Dorsey Chuck Evans Kenny Gregory James Life Loren Meyer Terrell Myers Nate Reinking Craig Robinson Dennis Rodman Billy Singleton Andre Smith Lynard Stewart Clyde Vaughan Jerry Williams Tony Windless Voise Winters Charles ClaxtonResults EditLeague Edit Present clubs Edit Club Champions Runners up Last league titleNewcastle Eagles 7 6 2014 15Leicester Riders 6 3 2021 22Sheffield Sharks 4 5 2002 03London Lions 2 2 2022 23Cheshire Phoenix i 2 0 2004 05Surrey Scorchers ii 1 1 2006 07Caledonia Gladiators iii 0 1 Bristol Flyers Manchester Giants Plymouth City Patriots Historical Edit Season Champions Runners Up Third Place1987 88 Portsmouth 1 Kingston Kings Murray Livingston1988 89 Glasgow Rangers 1 Murray Livingston Bracknell Tigers1989 90 Kingston Kings 1 Manchester Giants Sunderland 76ers1990 91 Kingston Kings 2 Sunderland Saints Thames Valley Tigers1991 92 Kingston Kings 3 Thames Valley Tigers Worthing Bears1992 93 Worthing Bears 1 Thames Valley Tigers London Towers1993 94 Thames Valley Tigers 1 Worthing Bears Manchester Giants1994 95 Sheffield Sharks 1 Thames Valley Tigers London Towers1995 96 London Towers 1 Sheffield Sharks Birmingham Bullets1996 97 Leopards 1 London Towers Sheffield Sharks1997 98 Leopards 2 Birmingham Bullets Newcastle Eagles1998 99 Sheffield Sharks 2 Manchester Giants London TowersSeason North Champions North Runners Up South Champions South Runners Up1999 00 Manchester Giants Sheffield Sharks London Towers Thames Valley Tigers2000 01 Sheffield Sharks Chester Jets London Towers Greater London Leopards2001 02 Chester Jets Sheffield Sharks London Towers Brighton BearsSeason Champions Runners Up Third Place2002 03 Sheffield Sharks 3 Brighton Bears Chester Jets2003 04 Brighton Bears 2 Sheffield Sharks London Towers2004 05 Chester Jets 1 Newcastle Eagles London Towers2005 06 Newcastle Eagles 1 Scottish Rocks Sheffield Sharks2006 07 Guildford Heat 1 Sheffield Sharks Newcastle Eagles2007 08 Newcastle Eagles 2 Guildford Heat Plymouth Raiders2008 09 Newcastle Eagles 3 Mersey Tigers Leicester Riders2009 10 Newcastle Eagles 4 Sheffield Sharks Glasgow Rocks2010 11 Mersey Tigers 1 Newcastle Eagles Sheffield Sharks2011 12 Newcastle Eagles 5 Leicester Riders Worcester Wolves2012 13 Leicester Riders 1 Newcastle Eagles Glasgow Rocks2013 14 Newcastle Eagles 6 Sheffield Sharks Worcester Wolves2014 15 Newcastle Eagles 7 Leicester Riders Worcester Wolves2015 16 Leicester Riders 2 Newcastle Eagles Sheffield Sharks2016 17 Leicester Riders 3 Newcastle Eagles Glasgow Rocks2017 18 Leicester Riders 4 London Lions Newcastle Eagles2018 19 London Lions 1 Leicester Riders Newcastle Eagles2019 20 Season cancelled due to the COVID 19 pandemic2020 21 Leicester Riders 5 London Lions Plymouth Raiders2021 22 Leicester Riders 6 Sheffield Sharks London Lions2022 23 London Lions 2 Playoffs Edit Season Champions Result Runners Up Venue1987 88 Murray Livingston 1 81 72 Portsmouth Wembley Arena London1988 89 Glasgow Rangers 1 89 86 Murray Livingston NEC Birmingham1989 90 Kingston Kings 2 87 82 Sunderland 76ers NEC Birmingham1990 91 Kingston Kings 3 94 72 Sunderland Saints NEC Birmingham1991 92 Kingston Kings 4 84 67 Thames Valley Tigers Wembley Arena London1992 93 Worthing Bears 1 75 74 Thames Valley Tigers Wembley Arena London1993 94 Worthing Bears 2 71 65 Guildford Kings Wembley Arena London1994 95 Worthing Bears 3 77 73 Manchester Giants Wembley Arena London1995 96 Birmingham Bullets 1 78 72 London Towers Wembley Arena London1996 97 London Towers 1 89 88 London Leopards Wembley Arena London1997 98 Birmingham Bullets 2 78 75 Thames Valley Tigers Wembley Arena London1998 99 London Towers 2 82 71 Thames Valley Tigers Wembley Arena London1999 00 Manchester Giants 1 74 65 Birmingham Bullets Wembley Arena London2000 01 Leicester Riders 1 84 75 Sheffield Sharks Wembley Arena London2001 02 Chester Jets 1 93 82 Sheffield Sharks Wembley Arena London2002 03 Scottish Rocks 1 83 76 Brighton Bears National Indoor Arena Birmingham2003 04 Sheffield Sharks 1 86 74 Chester Jets National Indoor Arena Birmingham2004 05 Newcastle Eagles 1 78 75 Chester Jets National Indoor Arena Birmingham2005 06 Newcastle Eagles 2 83 68 Scottish Rocks National Indoor Arena Birmingham2006 07 Newcastle Eagles 3 95 82 Scottish Rocks Metro Radio Arena Newcastle upon Tyne2007 08 Guildford Heat 1 100 88 Milton Keynes Lions National Indoor Arena Birmingham2008 09 Newcastle Eagles 4 87 84 Mersey Tigers National Indoor Arena Birmingham2009 10 Mersey Tigers 1 80 72 Glasgow Rocks National Indoor Arena Birmingham2010 11 Mersey Tigers 2 79 74 Sheffield Sharks National Indoor Arena Birmingham2011 12 Newcastle Eagles 5 71 62 Leicester Riders National Indoor Arena Birmingham2012 13 Leicester Riders 2 68 57 Newcastle Eagles Wembley Arena London2013 14 Worcester Wolves 1 90 78 Newcastle Eagles Wembley Arena London2014 15 Newcastle Eagles 6 96 84 London Lions The O2 Arena London2015 16 Sheffield Sharks 2 85 78 Leicester Riders The O2 Arena London2016 17 Leicester Riders 3 84 63 Newcastle Eagles The O2 Arena London2017 18 Leicester Riders 4 81 66 London Lions The O2 Arena London2018 19 Leicester Riders 5 93 61 London City Royals The O2 Arena London2020 21 Newcastle Eagles 7 68 66 London Lions Morningside Arena Leicester2021 22 Leicester Riders 6 78 75 London Lions The O2 Arena LondonHonours board Edit Rank Team Wins RU Wins RU Wins RU Wins RU Wins RUBBL Championship BBL Playoffs BBL Cup BBL Trophy Total1 Newcastle Eagles 7 6 7 5 7 4 7 4 28 192 Leicester Riders 6 3 6 2 4 5 3 4 19 143 Guildford Kings 4 1 4 1 4 0 3 1 15 34 Sheffield Sharks 4 6 2 3 6 2 2 2 14 135 London Towers 4 1 2 1 1 1 3 2 10 56 Cheshire Phoenix 2 1 1 2 2 2 5 3 10 87 Brighton Bears 2 3 3 1 3 1 0 3 8 88 London Lions 2 2 0 5 3 1 1 3 6 119 Thames Valley Tigers 1 4 0 4 2 3 4 0 7 1110 Mersey Tigers 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 0 5 311 Surrey Scorchers 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 2 4 312 Manchester Giants 1 2 1 1 0 2 1 4 3 913 Essex Leopards 2 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 3 414 Worcester Wolves 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 3 115 Caledonia Gladiators 0 1 1 3 0 4 1 1 2 916 Livingston 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 2 317 Birmingham Bullets 0 1 2 1 0 1 0 0 2 318 Plymouth Raiders 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 3 1 519 Portsmouth 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 320 London City Royals 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 121 Derby Storm 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 122 Solent Kestrels 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 123 Bristol Flyers 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 124 Manchester Giants 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 Note Defunct club Note This is a ranking of all BBL clubs titles won both throughout BBL history and including pre BBL titles Note Manchester Giants refers to the first franchise with this name rather than the current franchise of the same name Soruce Honours boardMedia coverage EditBasketball receives little national press coverage in the United Kingdom although coverage is more extensive from the local newspapers in cities where BBL clubs are based with publications such as The Plymouth Herald Manchester Evening News Leicester Mercury and the Newcastle Chronicle all having dedicated basketball reporters who cover the respective local team Some national newspapers list results and occasionally provide short summaries of the League s news but more extensive coverage remains minimal The history of television coverage of the BBL has been sporadic Previously the League enjoyed coverage from Channel 4 in the 1980s and Sky Sports from 1995 to 2001 where audiences peaked at around 150 000 viewers 34 The League signed a three year broadcast deal with the ill fated digital TV company ITV Digital in 2001 and coverage suffered a sharp decline as the broadcaster struggled and eventually went out of business resulting in a significant loss of income to member clubs 35 Television coverage was then infrequent until the 2007 08 season when international broadcaster Setanta Sports signed a deal to screen one live game a week 36 In 2010 the League agreed a broadcast rights deal with BSkyB network Sky Sports marking the return of BBL action on Sky Sports after a 9 year gap 37 The League s own subscription based online TV station BBL TV took over the broadcast of live games from 2013 to 2015 and during the 2013 14 season match highlights were also televised and featured on British Eurosport each week 38 In July 2016 the league signed a two year broadcast deal with the BBC featuring both British Basketball League and Women s British Basketball League games The games would be broadcast on the BBC Sport website with the showpiece finals also being broadcast on the BBC Red Button 39 Alongside the BBC deal a six year deal with Perform was signed 40 which saw every BBL game broadcast via LiveBasketball TV 41 and a deal followed a year later with UNILAD to broadcast one game a week live via Facebook 42 FreeSports signed a deal with the league in January 2018 to broadcast games for the remainder of the season starting with the BBL Cup Final between Worcester Wolves and Cheshire Phoenix In November 2020 coverage of the league returned to Sky Sports in a new two year deal which sees Sky broadcasting 30 games per season including BBL Trophy Final BBL Cup Final and BBL Playoffs 43 This has been extended to cover the 2022 23 season Awards EditMost Valuable Player award Coach of the Year award All Star Team awardSee also Edit Great Britain portalBasketball in England National Basketball League England Super League Ireland featuring teams from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland Women s British Basketball League List of professional sports teams in the United Kingdom Timeline of basketball on UK televisionNotes Edit as Cheshire Jets as Guildford Heat as Scottish RocksReferences Edit A single club from Northern Ireland Belfast Star play in the Irish Super League the highest level competition in Ireland and Basketball in Ireland operates on a broadly all island basis a b British Basketball League BBL 4 November 2016 Retrieved 8 November 2016 ULEB Union des Ligues Europeenes de Basket ball Uleb com Archived from the original on 8 December 2013 Retrieved 8 November 2016 Women s British Basketball League launched EnglandBasketball co uk 2014 Archived from the original on 6 June 2014 Retrieved 5 June 2014 2015 British Basketball League Play Off Final to take place at the O2 BBL British Basketball League Archived from the original on 5 January 2018 Retrieved 9 December 2016 Record BBL crowd at the O2 attracts global interest BBL British Basketball League Archived from the original on 5 January 2018 Retrieved 9 December 2016 BBL and 777 Partners agree 7 million investment deal British Basketball League 20 December 2021 Retrieved 9 August 2022 British Basketball League removes Team Payments Cap Eurohoops 10 July 2022 Retrieved 9 August 2022 UPDATE ROCKETS BBL APPLICATION Reading Rockets Investment group looking to establish BBL franchise in Birmingham Hoopsfix Sheffield Sharks left flying the Yorkshire flag in BBL expansion plans Yorkshire Post Kappa poised to dominate basketball apparel in UK from 2016 17 BBL British Basketball League Archived from the original on 2 March 2018 Retrieved 10 December 2016 a b c British Basketball League BBL 10 July 2019 Retrieved 9 January 2020 British Basketball League BBL 4 November 2016 Retrieved 8 November 2016 a b British Basketball League BBL 10 July 2019 Retrieved 9 January 2020 British Basketball League BBL 4 November 2016 Retrieved 8 November 2016 BBL Cup BBL org uk 10 July 2019 Retrieved 9 January 2020 BBL Cup BBL org uk 2012 Retrieved 16 September 2012 Page 29 British Basketball League 1996 97 Handbook BBL Cup Trophy draws made MVP24 7 com 2012 Retrieved 16 September 2012 BBL Trophy BBL org uk 2012 Retrieved 18 September 2012 Leicester Riders Fall to Bakken Bears Leicester Riders 22 September 2018 Retrieved 9 October 2018 FIBA Europe Cup Games Confirmed amp Tickets On Sale Leicester Riders 30 September 2018 Retrieved 9 October 2018 Eight Teams Join FIBA Europe Cup from Basketball Champions League FIBA 24 September 2018 Retrieved 9 October 2018 Powered by Google Docs Archived from the original on 10 November 2012 Retrieved 10 November 2012 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link a b Bristol Flyers Reveal Plans for New Arena Bristol Flyers 18 September 2018 Retrieved 9 October 2018 Manchester Giants to Move into New 2000 Seat Venue from 2019 Hoopsfix 8 February 2018 Retrieved 9 October 2018 2014 15 Turkish Airlines Euroleague licence allocation criteria Welcome to EUROLEAGUE BASKETBALL Retrieved 13 July 2017 Rayner Stuart 3 September 2016 Newcastle Eagles hoping to build for Europe and pre season tournament is foundation nechronicle Retrieved 13 July 2017 British Basketball League hopeful clubs will return to Europe with more money behind them Featured News News Sportcal www sportcal com Retrieved 13 July 2017 Success is easy to measure It s shiny it s silver and you hold it up New Glasgow Rocks owner Duncan Smillie sets out his stall HeraldScotland Retrieved 13 July 2017 Richard Spiller 2008 Heat off to winning start getSurrey co uk Retrieved 8 November 2010 Frequently Asked Questions BBL org uk 2012 Retrieved 19 September 2012 Richard Taylor 8 September 1998 How Murdoch has changed the face of British sport The Independent London Retrieved 11 December 2009 Jets count cost of digital crash Chester Chronicle 23 January 2004 Mark Woods 2008 Basketball back on the box Sunday Mail Retrieved 17 February 2008 British Basketball League BBL 4 November 2016 Retrieved 8 November 2016 Sky falls in for BBL TV coverage MVP247 com Retrieved 23 September 2013 Thirty two BBL and WBBL games to be broadcast live on BBC Sport BBL bbl org uk Archived from the original on 4 January 2018 Retrieved 9 December 2016 BBL and Perform sign major media deal BBL bbl org uk Archived from the original on 12 November 2017 Retrieved 9 December 2016 All BBL games now available via LiveBasketball TV BBL bbl org uk Archived from the original on 12 November 2017 Retrieved 9 December 2016 BBL Announce Deal with UniLad for Weekly Facebook Stream hoopsfix com British Basketball League returns to Sky Sports bbl org uk 13 November 2020 Retrieved 7 December 2020 External links EditOfficial website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title British Basketball League amp oldid 1149048924, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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