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.
14-678: In addition to the league competition, all BBL teams compete for the German Basketball Cup . Teams playing in the second league ( ProA or ProB ), or in a lower level Regionalliga , are also eligible to participate in the BBL-Cup. 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
28-491: A Malta-based betting company. 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. Currently, all Bundesliga clubs must play in arenas that seat at least 3,000 people. Members of the 2024–25 Basketball Bundesliga . BBL-Cup Basketball Bundesliga-Pokal , commonly known as
42-427: Is decided in a final four format, which is held over one weekend. The host team of the cup's final four, is automatically set as one of the participants. The three remaining teams are determined by three quarterfinal matches, played between the winners of the earlier round matches. Starting from the 2018–19 season, the format was changed to a sixteen team knock-out tournament , with the sixteen highest seeded teams from
56-726: The BBL-Pokal , is the annual national basketball cup competition in Germany. Since 2009, the competition has been conducted only between the top-ranked clubs of each Basketball Bundesliga (BBL). The competition was founded in 1966, by the German Basketball Federation . The first final of the German Basketball Cup took place on 11 June 1967, in Oberhausen . Since 1993, the cup championship
70-544: The easyCredit BBL for sponsorship reasons, is the 59th season of the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), the top-tier level of professional club basketball in Germany. It runs from 20 September 2024 to 15 June 2025. The season will be played with 17 teams after only one team was promoted from the ProA and no wildcards given out. After a double round-robin , the top six teams from the regular season qualify for
84-411: 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
98-406: 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 2016, the BBL joined forces with Tipbet ,
112-574: The previous season qualifying. The first DBB Cup final took place on 11 June 1967 in Oberhausen between VfL Osnabrück and ATV 1877 Düsseldorf 86:74 (HT 39:36). From 1993 to 2019, a final four tournament was held in a host city to determine the winner of the BBL-Pokal. In 2020 on, a knockout tournament was held to determine the winner of the BBL-Pokal. 2024%E2%80%9325 Basketball Bundesliga The 2024–25 Basketball Bundesliga , known as
126-620: 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 Basketball 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). In Germany, a national domestic basketball championship
140-428: 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)
154-415: Was decided on by the German Basketball Federation (DBB) in 1964. On 1 October 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
SECTION 10
#1732764692440168-469: 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,
182-537: 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
196-402: 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
#439560