135-713: The British Basketball League ( BBL ) was a men's professional basketball league in Great Britain . Since its establishment in 1987 the BBL represented the highest level of basketball competition within the United Kingdom . The organisation that operated the competition, Basketball League Limited, folded in July 2024 after the British Basketball Federation terminated its operating license. It
270-500: A class action lawsuit by millions of its customers who had been sold unnecessary life insurance by Prudential agents over a 13-year period ending in 1995. The settlement called for Prudential to repay an estimated $ 2 billion to customers through direct refunds and enhancements to existing policies. The settlement had been the subject of extensive negotiations involving not only Prudential and its customers, but also insurance regulators in 30 states. Prudential had agreed in early 1997 to pay
405-538: A leap year , the date is 29 February. Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA -sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed. To appear in this section a player must have either: Homegrown Naturalised British Rest of the World *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
540-583: A 100% rating on the Corporate Equality Index released by the Human Rights Campaign every year since 2003, the second year of the report. In addition, the company is in the "Hall of Fame" of Working Mothers magazine among other companies that have made their "100 Best Companies for Working Mothers" list for 15 or more years. It is still achieving that list, as of 2013. According to Business Week's The Best Places to Launch
675-529: A 1907 Massachusetts law to protect workers by allowing savings banks to sell life insurance at lower rates. Prudential has evolved from a mutual insurance company (owned by its policyholders) to a joint stock company (as it was prior to 1915 ). It is now traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol PRU . The Prudential Stock was issued and started trading on the New York Stock Exchange on December 13, 2001. On August 1, 2004,
810-577: A Career 2008 , Prudential Insurance was ranked #59 out of 119 companies on the list. In 2007, The Prudential Foundation provided over $ 450,000 in Prudential CARES Volunteer Grants to 444 nonprofit organizations worldwide. The Prudential CARES Volunteer Grants Program recognizes individual and team volunteers based on a minimum of 40 hours of volunteer service per individual. Grants range from $ 250 to $ 5,000 for each award winner's charitable organization. Prudential ranked #69 on
945-545: 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. 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
1080-489: A combination of bad investments, careless spending, and a lack of non-athletic skills. The wear and tear of a career in professional sport, can cause physical and mental side effects (such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy , a condition that has seen a massive rise in public awareness in the 2010s) that can harm a former professional athlete's employability. In the United States, some of these problems are mitigated by
1215-525: A company ( aircraft industry , food workers , tractor industry ) or organization ( KGB , Red Army , Soviet Air Force ) that sponsored what would be presented as an after-hours social sports society team for their workers . Christians in the Wesleyan-Holiness movement , which adheres to the position of first-day Sabbatarianism , oppose the viewing of or participation in professional sports, believing that professional sports leagues profane
1350-488: A fine of $ 35 million to settle state allegations of deceptive sales practices. Prudential acknowledged that for more than a decade its agents had improperly persuaded customers to cash in old policies and purchase new ones so that the agents could generate additional sales commissions. In 2010, various media outlets noted allegations that the Prudential Life Insurance Company was manipulating
1485-779: A football inscribed with the words "World Champions." The whereabouts of the Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup , only given out that one time, are unknown. The legacy of two APFA franchises continues. The Racine Cardinals now play in Arizona, and the Decatur Staleys moved to Chicago in 1921 and changed their name to the Bears the following year. Ten APFA players along with Carr are enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, set up in 1963 not far from
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#17327758758491620-458: A force behind the revival of the modern Olympic Games . The tension between the two sporting practices and ideals dates from the inception of modern organized sports in the 19th century. The high political and financial stakes involved in sport have ensured that this tension has remained strong. Professional sporting organizations have often developed as "rebel" organizations in relation to established national and international federation, for example
1755-485: A great deal of money at the highest levels; for instance, in 2024 the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team is set to pay 70 million dollars to its highest-paid player, Shohei Ohtani . Per Forbes 2021 ranking, the highest-paid athletes include Cristiano Ronaldo , Lionel Messi , Naomi Osaka , Tiger Woods , Serena Williams and wrestler-turned-actor The Rock . The top ten tennis players make about $ 3 million
1890-461: 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
2025-399: A large scale and blithely ignored a 1986 SEC order to overhaul its internal enforcement of securities laws. In all, some 400,000 individual investors lost money on the deals. In 1993, Prudential Financial eventually settled with investors for $ 330 million. Prudential said it would repay customers across the U.S. who lost money on the company's limited partnerships in the 1980s. In addition,
2160-841: A neutral venue. 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 . 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
2295-488: A new CEO, John R. Strangfeld , to replace retiring Arthur F. Ryan . In 1981, the company acquired Bache & Co. , a stock brokerage service that operated as a wholly owned subsidiary until 2003, when Wachovia and Prudential combined their retail brokerage operations into Wachovia Securities , with Prudential a minority stake holder. In 1999, Prudential sold its healthcare division, Prudential HealthCare, to Aetna for $ 1 billion. On May 1, 2003, Prudential formalized
2430-549: A potential addition. Additional proposals for the new league included prize money being awarded to competition winners, a new supplementary League Cup competition for member teams, and the removal of relegation between the new league and NBL Division 2 for the first two seasons, to encourage financial stability for its member teams; promotion would still be offered to the top two teams within Division 2, subject to financial and facility guarantees. Furthermore, all member teams within
2565-469: A result, more sportspeople can afford to make sport their primary career, devoting the training time necessary to increase skills, physical condition, and experience to modern levels of achievement. This proficiency has also helped boost the popularity of sports. In most sports played professionally there are many more amateur than professional players, though amateurs and professionals do not usually compete. American football (commonly known as football in
2700-594: A series of contests against the NFL, was considered to be at least comparable in talent to the American leagues of the 1960s (its lone game against an AFL squad was a victory). Because Canada has a tenth of the population of the United States, the ability to make money from television was much lower, and although some of the cities of Canada were comparable to the major markets of the U.S., teams in places such as Saskatchewan and Hamilton were in markets quite small compared to even
2835-691: 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 and other North American sports. The post-season Playoffs usually takes place in April, featuring
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#17327758758492970-645: A significant profit, the second-highest American football league in the United States, the United Football League , consistently struggled to pay its bills and has continually lost money despite allotting its players only US$ 20,000 a year, and television networks made the league pay for television airtime instead of paying the league, making the league's business model unworkable. In the United States and Canada, most lower-end professional leagues run themselves as affiliated farm teams , effectively agreeing to develop younger players for eventual play in
3105-463: A total of seven points, the champion in spite of protests by the one-loss teams in Decatur and Buffalo, who each had tied Akron and had more wins, thanks in part to Akron's owner presiding over the meeting. The victors received a silver loving cup donated by sporting goods company Brunswick-Balke-Collender. While players were not given diamond-encrusted rings, they did receive golden fobs in the shape of
3240-554: A traditional object of criticism by proponents of the amateur philosophy of sport, according to which the central ethos of sport is competition performed for its own sake and pure enjoyment rather than as a means of earning a living. Examples of amateur philosophy include the muscular Christianity movement that informed the promotion of sports in the English public school system, and the Olympism advocated by Pierre de Coubertin ,
3375-788: A women's league in 2014, branded as the Women's British Basketball League (WBBL). Competitive national basketball in Great Britain has existed since 1936 when the Amateur Basket Ball Association (ABBA) founded the ABBA National Championship , a knockout competition featuring the regional champions from across England and Wales . An equivalent competition for Scotland was formed by the Amateur Basketball Association of Scotland in 1947. As fully amateur championships,
3510-489: A year on average. Much of the growth in income for sports and athletes has come from broadcasting rights ; for example, the most recent television contract for the NFL is valued at nearly US$ 5 billion per year. Women tend to earn considerably less than men in such sports as basketball, golf, football (soccer), softball and baseball. The exception is tennis where women tend to have salaries comparable to those of their male counterparts. The highest-paid female athlete in 2019
3645-495: A £5,000 entry fee. Not all teams were initially onboard with the new proposals however, as established names like Birmingham Bullets first rejected the move and opted to stay within the existing EBBA structure. The EBBA established a Committee of Inquiry to conduct a review and establish the terms of the handover, and a new organisation – the Basketball League Limited – was formed by the team owners to oversee
3780-486: Is $ 70,250 for most players, and for players on the reserve roster (slots #25-28) the minimum salary is $ 56,250. In 1970, the average salary in Major League Baseball in the U.S. and Canada was $ 20,000 ($ 156,915 inflation-adjusted). By 2005, the average salary had increased to $ 2,632,655 ($ 4,107,103 inflation-adjusted) and the minimum salary was $ 316,000 (adjusted: $ 492,979). In 2012 the average MLB salary
3915-474: 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
4050-489: Is an American Fortune Global 500 and Fortune 500 company whose subsidiaries provide insurance , retirement planning , investment management , and other products and services to both retail and institutional customers throughout the United States and in over 40 other countries. In 2019, Prudential was the largest insurance provider in the United States with $ 815.1 billion in total assets. The company uses
4185-457: Is made up of an independent chairperson, non-affiliated non-executives, Investor Directors and a minority representation of BBL Club Directors. Sir Rodney Walker is the current elected chairperson. On 14 June 2024 British Basketball , the national governing body for basketball in the UK, terminated the league's licence citing financial concerns. The BBL Championship is the flagship competition of
British Basketball League - Misplaced Pages Continue
4320-588: Is nothing new. According to Cooky, female athletes need more visibility to ensure their access to necessary resources and financial security, which has an impact on their professional development. Outside the highest leagues, however, the money professional athletes can earn drops dramatically, as fan bases are generally smaller and there are no television revenues. For instance, while the National Football League 's teams can afford to pay their players millions of dollars each year and still maintain
4455-620: 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. 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
4590-822: 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,
4725-522: 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. Prior to the 2022–23 season , a "Team Payments Cap" limited teams to spend no more than £250,000 on player salaries per season with the aim of keeping overall costs down for the teams whilst also ensuring competitive balance. The Team Payments Cap
4860-618: The Carlsberg Group , generating an estimated income of £1,196,000. A joint venture company, Basketball Marketing Limited, was established in 1982 by the EBBA and team owners to market the league collectively to potential sponsors and share revenue from TV contracts; with the agreement that 40% of revenue was held by the EBBA and the remaining 60% shared between all member teams. In 1983, the Basketball Owners' Association (BOA)
4995-473: 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 . 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
5130-647: The Negro leagues . Starting in the late 1950s, major league baseball expanded its geographical range. Western cities acquired teams, either by luring them to move from eastern cities or by forming expansion teams with players made available by established teams. Until the 1970s, because of strict contracts, the owners of baseball teams also virtually owned the players; the rules then changed so that players could become free agents within certain limits, free to sell their services to any team. The resulting bidding wars led to players becoming increasingly wealthy. Disputes between
5265-481: The Prudential Friendly Society . It was founded by John F. Dryden , who later became a U.S. Senator. In the beginning, the company sold only one product, burial insurance. Dryden was the president of Prudential until 1912. He was succeeded by his son Forrest F. Dryden , who was the president until 1922. A history of The Prudential Insurance Company of America up to about 1975 is the topic of
5400-566: The Rock of Gibraltar as its logo . The use of Prudential's symbol, the Rock of Gibraltar, began after an advertising agent passed Laurel Hill , a volcanic neck, in Secaucus, New Jersey , on a train in the 1890s. The related slogans "Get a Piece of the Rock" and "Strength of Gibraltar" are also still quite widely associated with Prudential, though current advertising uses neither of these. Through
5535-625: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced the discovery of terrorist threats against the Prudential Headquarters in Newark, New Jersey, prompting large-scale security measures that included concrete barriers outside the premises and internal X-ray machines. In the same year, a joint venture was formed between Prudential and China Everbright Limited . On November 28, 2007, the Prudential board of directors elected
British Basketball League - Misplaced Pages Continue
5670-562: The 1920s, when Babe Ruth led the New York Yankees to several World Series titles and became a national hero on the strength of his home runs (balls that cannot be played because they have been hit out of the field). One of the most noteworthy players was the Brooklyn Dodgers' Jackie Robinson , who became the first African-American player in the major leagues in 1947; until then black players had been restricted to
5805-669: The 1930s. A competing league has historically arisen to attempt to challenge the NFL's dominance every 10 to 15 years, but none managed to maintain long-term operations independent of the NFL and only two—the All-America Football Conference of the late 1940s and the American Football League of the 1960s—were strong enough to successfully compete against the league before the NFL subsumed their operations. Minor league football, although their leagues' memberships were unstable, began to arise in
5940-468: The 2009–2010 Bundesliga season. The highest-paid player for the 2010–11 Bundesliga season was Franck Ribéry of Bayern Munich who received a salary of €6.3 million after income tax. In the Italian top league, Serie A , the average salary was about €5 million for the 2010–2011 Serie A season, up from €1 million in the 2005–2006 Serie A season. The highest-paid player for the 2010–2011 Serie A season
6075-401: The 2010 season. The highest-paid player for the 2011 Chinese Super League season was Dario Conca of Guangzhou Evergrande who received an annual salary of ¥67.4 million ($ 10.5 million) after income tax, putting him among the highest-paid players in the world. The highest-paid player for the 2011–2012 Russian Premier League season was Samuel Eto'o of Anzhi Makhachkala , who at the end of
6210-491: The 2011–12 season was expected to receive a total salary of RUB 900.2 million (£35.7 million) after income tax, making Eto'o the second highest-earning athlete in the world and the highest-paid footballer in the world followed by Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimović . The average salary of a player in the German Bundesliga was about €3.3 million (£2.5 million) for the 2010–11 season, up from €2.5 million in
6345-834: The ABBA following shortly after, with the formation of the National Basketball League (NBL) in 1972. Over the next 15 years, basketball's popularity in Great Britain grew steadily and annual revenues for the ABBA – renamed as the English Basket Ball Association (EBBA) in 1975 – increased from £23,440 in 1972 to £303,500 in 1981. With the increased commercial potential of basketball and the NBL evident, teams started to attract entrepreneurial owners and benefactors along with football clubs, such as Manchester United and Portsmouth , looking to replicate
6480-614: The Basketball Champions League, the Leicester Riders played in the 2018–19 FIBA Europe Cup , Europe's fourth tier. 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. British Basketball League rules currently allow for each team to have a maximum of three "import" players – from outside of
6615-530: The Basketball League Limited would be equal shareholders of the new organisation and be eligible to compete in European competitions, whilst the EBBA would retain disciplinary powers, appointment of match officials and remain completely in control of other competitions, such as the National Cup . Following the conclusion of the 1986–87 season , the EBBA signed a formal agreement with the Basketball League Limited, handing over full control and administration of
6750-504: The British Basketball League and features all member teams playing a double round robin (home and away) league season, from September through to April. Matches are played according to FIBA rules and games consist of four-quarters of 10 minutes each. Two points are awarded for a win, with overtime used if the score is tied at the final buzzer – unlimited numbers of 5-minute overtime periods are played until one team
6885-463: The Canton automobile dealership that gave birth to the NFL in 1920. The APFA, by 1922 known as the National Football League , has remained the predominant professional American football league in the United States, and, effectively, the entire world. The evolution from a haphazard collection of teams in big and small cities to the much more rigid structure it is in the present was gradual. With most of
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#17327758758497020-590: 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. The intervening years saw the perennial success of the Newcastle Eagles ,
7155-563: 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 . The Trophy competition has historically had a round-robin group stage format used for the first round, however
7290-471: The League admitted two teams, Bristol Flyers and Leeds Carnegie , into the organisation; an ill-fated application from a third team, Edinburgh-based East Scotland Warriors , was rejected at the final stages to concerns over its financial backing. Plymouth City Patriots were admitted into the League for the 2021–22 season as a direct replacement for the Plymouth Raiders , who withdrew prior to
7425-692: The NBA views with carrying the Chicago Bulls to six titles in the 1990s. In the 1920s some cricketers from the Caribbean played professional cricket in Britain. After World War II , professional cricketers from the Indian subcontinent were enlisted in British teams. Ice hockey was first professionalized in Pittsburgh , U.S. in the first decade of the 20th century. Because Canadians made up
7560-716: The NFL in 1970); the NFL expanded coast-to-coast, the first of the four major leagues to do so, in 1946 with the Los Angeles Rams and admitted the San Francisco 49ers four years later; the NFL did not enter the Southern United States until admitting the Dallas Cowboys , Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints in the 1960s. A championship game was established in 1933, a draft was established in 1936, and schedules were standardized in
7695-414: The NHL in 1979, but had to give up most of its players, as they were still under NHL contract and had to return to their original teams. The NHL made its last pronounced realignment in the 1990s, moving most of the WHA teams out of their markets and establishing a number of new teams in the southern United States. In Europe, the introduction of professionalism varied widely, and the highest-caliber league on
7830-406: The National Basketball League. In addition to the regular season Championship, the BBL also staged two knockout competitions; the BBL Trophy and the end-of-season BBL Playoffs . Previously the organisation also ran the BBL Cup and BBL Cup Winners' Cup competitions, though these were last contested in 2023 and 2009 respectively. In partnership with Basketball England the organisation launched
7965-582: The Sabbath , compete with a Christian's primary commitment to God, exhibit a lack of modesty in the players' and cheerleaders' uniforms, are associated with violence and extensive use of profanity among many players, and encourage gambling, as well as alcohol and other drugs at sporting events, which go against a commitment to teetotalism . Laestadian Lutherans , who belong to the Pietistic Lutheran tradition, likewise teach that "Competitive sports are not acceptable, but we should maintain fitness through various forms of exercise." Professional sportsmen can earn
8100-505: The Spanish La Liga , the average salary for the players of Lionel Messi's club FC Barcelona was €6.5 million for the 2010–2011 La Liga season, up from €5.5 million for the 2009–2010 La Liga season. The average salary of a player in the English Premier League was about £2.6 million in the 2017–18 season, compared with about £1.2 million in 2007–08 and £676,000 in 2006–07. Even as early as 2010–11, top players such as John Terry and Steven Gerrard could make up to £7 million per year with
8235-451: The United States) was professionalized in the 1890s as a slow, and initially covert, process; Pudge Heffelfinger and Ben "Sport" Donnelly were the first to secretly accept payment for playing the game in 1892. Regional leagues in Chicago, Pennsylvania , Ohio and New York had coalesced in the 1900s and 1910s, most of which gave way to the American Professional Football Association in 1920. By 1920, pro football remained overshadowed by
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#17327758758498370-416: The WHL a contract, the NHL doubled in size in 1967 , beginning a period of expansion that lasted through much of the 1970s. The last major challenger to the NHL's dominance was the World Hockey Association , which successfully broke the NHL's reserve clause in court, drove up professional hockey salaries, and continued to pressure the older league into expansion. The WHA merged four of its remaining teams into
8505-487: The acquisition of American Skandia , the largest distributor of variable annuities through independent financial professionals in the United States. The CEO of American Skandia, Wade Dokken , partnered with Goldman Sachs and sold the division to Prudential for $ 1.2 billion. The combination of American Skandia variable annuities and Prudential fixed annuities was part of Prudential's strategy to acquire complementary businesses that help meet retirement goals. In April 2004,
8640-465: The acquisition. During the 1980s and 1990s, Prudential Securities Incorporated (PSI), formerly a division of Prudential Financial, was investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for suspected fraud. During the investigation, it was found that PSI had defrauded investors of close to $ 8 billion, the largest fraud found by the SEC in US history to that point. The SEC charged that Prudential allowed rogue executives to cheat customers on
8775-433: 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
8910-411: The aggregate score of each match in the semi-final then goes through to the BBL Cup Final. The Cup final is played at the Arena Birmingham in Birmingham, usually in early January. 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
9045-468: The amateur rules of the International Olympic Committee to retain their amateur status and compete in the Olympics . The modern-day descendant of the Soviet league, the Kontinental Hockey League , is fully professional and has some teams outside Russia, to the point where it has the resources to sign NHL veterans. Other European countries including Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, Finland, and Austria have prominent professional leagues. Rugby union
9180-415: The best Japanese players often emigrate to the U.S. by way of the posting system . Other countries where the game is important include South Korea (where their league has its own posting system with Major League Baseball), Taiwan, Mexico, Latin America, and the Caribbean states. Basketball was invented in 1891 and the first professional leagues emerged in the 1920s. The Basketball Association of America
9315-492: The best players to be stacked onto certain teams), and restricting its players' salaries through reserve clauses . This stagnation allowed other leagues to arise: the Western Hockey League soon became the de facto major league of the western states and provinces, and the second-tier American Hockey League emerged in a number of midwestern markets the NHL had neglected, in addition to a handful of small towns. Amid pressure from television networks that were threatening to offer
9450-548: The book Three Cents A Week , referring to the premium paid by early policyholders. At the turn of the 20th century, Prudential and other large insurers reaped the bulk of their profits from industrial life insurance, or insurance sold by solicitors house-to-house in poor urban areas. For their insurance, industrial workers paid double what others paid for ordinary life insurance, and due to high lapse rates, as few as 1 in 12 policies reached maturity. Prominent lawyer and future U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis helped pass
9585-502: The city of Edinburgh and NBL powerhouse Reading Rockets . Of these interested cities, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Leeds and Liverpool have all, at some point in time, previously hosted a BBL team since 1987. The league was an independent company owned by its member clubs and Miami -based investment firm 777 Partners, who bought 45.5% of the shares of the league, investing £7million, in December 2021. Each club, or franchise, now had an equal shareholding of 5.45%. The 8-person management board
9720-566: The college game. The first game involving an APFA team took place on 26 September 1920, at Douglas Park in Rock Island, Illinois, as the hometown Independents flattened the St. Paul Ideals 48–0. The first head-to-head battles in the league occurred one week later as Dayton topped Columbus 14-0 and Rock Island pasted Muncie 45–0. Forward passes were rare, coaching from the sidelines was prohibited and players competed on both offense and defense. Money
9855-720: The company acquired the retirement business of CIGNA Corporation . In late 2009, Prudential sold its minority stake in Wachovia Securities Financial Holdings LLC to Wells Fargo & Co. In 2011, Prudential sold Prudential Bache Commodities, LLC to Jefferies. In February 2011, the company acquired AIG Edison and AIG Star both in Japan from American International Group , Inc (AIG) for a total of $ 4.8 billion. This acquisition bolstered Prudential's operations in Asia while giving cash to AIG to pay back
9990-410: The company to the payee (in many cases a fallen service members' family). While Prudential was making profits of up to 4.2% in its general account in early 2010, they paid out 0.5% interest in these non-FDIC insured "Alliance" accounts. In some cases, when families requested to be sent a full payout in the form of a check, the family was sent a checkbook, rather than the amount due. It is not clear if
10125-410: The competitions were largely dominated by victorious teams from universities, YMCAs and Royal Air Force stations. A short-lived attempt at establishing a truly national league competition in the 1960s was met with some success; at its height the competition, known as the 'Rosebowl', featured 16 teams from across England, Scotland and Wales . In 1969, Scotland established its own national league with
10260-577: The conclusion of the season there were no play-offs (that innovation, although New York's regional league had used it, did not arrive until 1933) and it took more than four months before the league even bothered to crown a champion. Much as college football did for decades, the APFA determined its victor by ballot. On 30 April 1921, team representatives voted the Akron Pros, which completed the season undefeated with eight wins and three ties while yielding only
10395-694: The continent, the Soviet Championship League (proven to be at least equal to or better than the NHL in the 1970s), was officially populated with ostensibly amateur players who were actually full-time sportspeople hired as regular workers of a company ( aircraft industry , food workers , tractor industry ) or organization ( KGB , Red Army , Soviet Air Force ) that sponsored what would be presented as an after-hours social sports society hockey team for their workers. In other words, all Soviet hockey players were de facto professionals who circumvented
10530-599: The country's oldest team, the Leicester Riders , is also based. The BBL sat above the English National Basketball League and the Scottish Basketball Championship , which effectively formed the second tier of basketball competition in Great Britain. Due to the franchise model there was no promotion or relegation between the lower leagues and the BBL, although several BBL member teams had previously competed in
10665-680: 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. The Final is usually played in March at
10800-536: The fact that the college sports system ensures most professional athletes receive a college education with no student debt, a legacy that provides them with a career path after their sports career ends. In the NFL average annual salaries by position in 2009 were: The average salary of a player in the Chinese Super League was about ¥ 10.7 million (£1 million) for the 2011 season, up from ¥600,000 in
10935-582: The federal government from its bailout in 2008. In January 2013, the company acquired the individual life insurance business from The Hartford for $ 615 million in cash. The acquisition includes 700,000 in force life insurance policies with a face amount of approximately $ 135 billion. This move by Prudential brought over additional life insurance revenue. In September 2019, the company agreed to acquire online startup Assurance IQ Inc. for $ 2.35 billion. Assurance has underperformed financial expectations, and industry commentators believe Prudential paid too much for
11070-546: The firm was required to pay another $ 41 million in fines. The settlement also resolved investigations of the firm by the National Association of Securities Dealers and 49 states, including California, where 52,000 investors lost money in Prudential limited partnerships. Further investigation was conducted by the SEC into the executives of the company to determine the extent of the fraud. In 1997, Prudential settled
11205-484: The first franchise with this name rather than the current franchise of the same name. Soruce: Honours board Professional basketball In professional sports , as opposed to amateur sports , participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larger audiences, so that sports organizations or teams can command large incomes. As
11340-501: The first professional baseball league was created. By the beginning of the 20th century, most large cities in the eastern United States had a professional baseball team. After several leagues came and went in the 19th century, the National League (founded in 1876) and American League (recognized as a major league in 1903) were established as the dominant leagues by the early 20th century. The most victorious team in each league
11475-485: The first time in 11 years, British participation in European competition when Leicester competed in the Basketball Champions League and FIBA Europe Cup . On 2 December 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. On 14 June 2024 British Basketball ,
11610-413: The heap." The sentiment was echoed by Dave Elderkin, Manager of Sunderland 76ers , who noted that sponsorship revenue was divided between the EBBA's 650 member clubs, and though the Division 1 teams generated the most sponsorship they were only receiving a small fraction of the return; Sunderland were reportedly paid just £2,000 from central sponsorship earnings in 1986. By April 1986, still unsatisfied by
11745-527: 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. 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
11880-660: The highest average salaries in 2017–18, with players for both Manchester United and Manchester City averaging over £5.2 million. Players in lower divisions make significantly less money. In 2006–07 the average salary of a player in the Championship (the second tier of the English football pyramid) made £195,750 while the average salary for League One and League Two (tiers 3 and 4) combined were £49,600. The highest salary in Major League Soccer in 2019
12015-408: The late 1930s and remained viable as a business model up into the 1970s. A major factor in the NFL's rise to dominance was its embrace of television early in the sport's history. As college football heavily restricted the rights of its teams to broadcast games (a policy eventually ruled to be illegal in 1984), the NFL instead allowed games to be televised nationwide, except in a team's home city ;
12150-412: The league did not maintain official standings. The inaugural season was a struggle. Games received little attention from the fans, and even less from the press. According to Robert W. Peterson's book "Pigskin: The Early Years of Pro Football," APFA games averaged crowds of 4,241. The association bylaws called for teams to pay a US$ 100 entry fee, but no one ever did. The season concluded on 19 December. At
12285-531: 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
12420-456: The league's retrenchment to six markets: Boston, New York City, Chicago and Detroit in the U.S., and Toronto and Montreal in Canada. These Original Six cities were the only cities with NHL franchises from 1935 to 1967. During this time, the NHL was both stagnant and restrictive in its policies, giving teams territorial advantages, having teams with multiple owners in the same family (thus allowing
12555-516: The league, with the biggest advances in facilities. Some clubs have now built their own venues, including Newcastle , Leicester , Sheffield and Caledonia , and Manchester , Cheshire and Surrey and have moved into much improved facilities, while Plymouth , and the most recent election from the EBL, the Bristol Flyers , have announced plans for their own arenas. The 2018–19 season saw, for
12690-482: The major leagues in exchange for subsidizing those players' salaries; this is known as the minor league system and is most prevalent in professional baseball and professional ice hockey . Otherwise, the league may be required to classify itself as semi-professional , in other words, able to pay their players a small sum, but not enough to cover the player's basic costs of living. Many professional athletes experience financial difficulties soon after retiring, due to
12825-448: The multi-modal sporting club patented by European powerhouses such as Real Madrid and Barcelona . In 1982, the NBL reached a broadcasting deal with newly launched television channel Channel 4 , further increasing the visibility of the league to a national audience. The NBL's upward commercial trajectory continued with the EBBA signing sponsorship agreements with major national companies such as Prudential Insurance , Bell's whisky and
12960-450: The national governing body for basketball in the UK, terminated the league's licence, meaning that the UK men's professional league would no longer be run by the current operating company behind the BBL. British Basketball cited financial concerns as a principal driver of the decision, and promised that interim measures would be put in place to ensure that a 2024/25 season takes place. The most recent round of expansion took place in 2014 when
13095-556: The new Carlsberg Basketball League and the 1987–88 season took place on 13 September 1987, when Scotland -based Livingston defeated Oldham Celtics, 98–81, at the Forum Arena in Livingston . The former Scottish National League team went on to have a very successful season overall. Whilst Portsmouth were successful in retaining their national champions title in the inaugural league championship – continuing their success from
13230-591: The new organisation. At official launch, the 16 confirmed teams to feature in the new league were announced as: The new league faced challenges from the off-set when Rhondda – the league's only Wales-based team – folded in August 1987, just weeks before the start of the new season. The sudden loss of a major sponsor meant the team were unable to finance the upcoming campaign, where they would compete against teams with budgets of up to £250,000. London-based Brunel Crystal Palace also faced similar financial challenges during
13365-713: The off-season, searching for additional sponsors to cover their £100,000 outgoings. Despite these setbacks, the fledging organisation did achieve some immediate commercial success; a new 3-year sponsorship agreement with the Carlsberg Group saw the new competition branded as the Carlsberg Basketball League , along with additional naming-rights deals for the postseason playoffs and the Tournament of Champions, both of which were also sponsored by Carlsberg. The newly-established League Cup competition
13500-491: The operations of the new competition. The new organisation proposed commencing with a new 16-team league competition for the 1987–88 season , that would include the 13 existing teams of the NBL Division 1 along with two promoted teams from Division 2, plus Scottish champions Livingston and a possibility of future expansion into Scotland and Ireland . Some reports also suggested Wales -based Rhondda were approached as
13635-447: The payout of life insurance benefits due to the families of American soldiers in order to gain extra profits. The company provided life insurance to people in the armed forces under a government contract. Rather than paying the full amount due to the families at once, the company would instead deposit the funds into a Prudential corporate account. These accounts are referred to as 'retained asset accounts' and are essentially an I.O.U. from
13770-537: The players of Premier League club Manchester City F.C. receiving an average salary of £2 million in that season. Premier League salaries have boomed in more recent years thanks to massive television deals and wealthy new investors in clubs. Terry's and Gerrard's 2010–11 salaries would not have placed them among the top 25 earners in 2017–18. In that season, more than 20 players earned more than £10 million, led by Alexis Sánchez (£21.5 million) and Mesut Özil (£20.9 million). The Premier League's two Manchester clubs had
13905-407: The players' union and the owners have at times halted baseball for months at a time (e.g., 1994–95 player strike ). A prominent professional baseball circuit known as Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) also developed in Japan. Founded in 1934, the league emerged as an international force after World War II. NPB is considered to be the highest caliber of baseball outside the U.S. major leagues, and
14040-409: The points difference in the games between said teams. 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. 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
14175-505: The practice was in violation of law or the contract. In August 2010, the company was sued by a number of the bereaved families. The company's response included an open letter to the military community in which it addressed what it characterized as "misinformation" about the nature of the accounts. Military Times noted that prior lawsuits against insurance companies pertaining to the use of retained asset accounts have been dismissed in federal courts without action. Prudential has received
14310-487: The previous National Basketball League – they were soundly defeated by Livingston in both the Playoff Final (81–72) and NatWest Bank Trophy Final (96–91). 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
14445-472: 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
14580-494: The relationship with the EBBA, a contingent of team owners set forth to organise a breakaway competition, dubbed the British Basketball League . The initiative was led by John Deacon, owner of Portsmouth , who had rallied support for the new league from fellow teams Bracknell Pirates , Crystal Palace , Edinburgh , Hemel Hempstead & Watford Royals , Kingston and Sunderland, with each team contributing
14715-490: The restriction was softened in the early 1970s, by which point the NFL had secured broadcast deals with all of the major television networks , another major factor in the inability of any competing league to gain traction since then. The related sport of Canadian football was eventually professionalized by the 1950s with the evolution of the Canadian Football League . The CFL, despite losing all games in
14850-431: 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. The event saw a record breaking crowd of 14,700. As of the 2016–17 BBL season Italian sportswear manufacturer Kappa have been the exclusive kit supplier for all teams, replacing a previous deal with Spalding . The past decade has seen sustained growth across
14985-548: The schism which created the code of rugby league. Arguments against amateurism often appeal to the argument that amateurism in sport favors the classes who can afford not to be paid to play, and is thus a covert form of prejudice against lower classes. Another argument is that amateur players are often de facto professionals who retain their amateur status by earning allowances instead of salaries. For example, all Eastern bloc countries were populated with amateur players who were actually full-time athletes hired as regular workers of
15120-490: The season starting. As of 2023, the League does not have any confirmed plans to introduce more teams in new cities or locations, however there are interested parties from Belfast , Birmingham , Cardiff , Dublin , Leeds and Liverpool looking at establishing a potential expansion franchise. In 2022, media outlets also reported interest from a Birmingham-based consortium which included former NBA star and Hall of Famer , Hakeem Olajuwon , as well as additional interest from
15255-637: The small markets of the NFL, thus the CFL pays significantly less than other major professional leagues, though enough to be considered fully professional. Europe, Japan, Mexico also have American football leagues of varying levels that sign professional players. The top leagues are the German Football League , Austrian Football League , the new European League of Football and the X-League . There are over 60 countries that have leagues throughout
15390-605: The small-market teams except the Green Bay Packers squeezed out of the NFL by the time of the Great Depression , multiple attempts at teams in the major cities of Washington , New York , Detroit , Cleveland, and Philadelphia failed before, eventually, their current representatives took root (though Boston proved particularly problematic until the New England Patriots were accepted into
15525-455: The sport to be viable in smaller cities than other sports. Professional basketball leagues of varying caliber can be found around the world, especially in Europe and South America. Basketball mainly became popular in the early 1980s when Magic Johnson and Larry Bird joined the NBA and lead their teams to multiple NBA titles. They are considered two of the best players of all time usually underneath Michael Jordan . Michael Jordan also gained
15660-466: The support and appreciation of female athletes in professional sports. Female athletes struggle to obtain the same degree of visibility and sponsorship opportunities as male athletes, whose accomplishments frequently dominate mainstream sports coverage. According to Cheryl Cooky's TEDx talk, a professor in American studies, gender, and sexuality at Purdue University, the marginalization of female athletes in mainstream sports media and sponsorship opportunities
15795-543: The then-independent Stanley Cup . The NHA's teams reorganized as the National Hockey League in 1917, and the West Coast circuit died out by the mid-1920s. By 1926, the NHL had expanded to ten teams in Canada and the northeastern and midwestern United States. However, the onset of the Great Depression in the 1930s and Canada's entry into World War II, greatly reducing the league's player pool, led to
15930-417: 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
16065-453: The top national basketball competition to the new organisation. The agreement was signed at Old Trafford football stadium, home of Manchester United, whose basketball team would feature in the newly formed league. Signing the agreement to establish the new league was Keith Mitchell OBE and Mel Welch, President and Secretary of the EBBA respectively, along with John Deacon, Chairman of the Basketball League Limited, and John Barr, Treasurer of
16200-600: The vast majority of hockey players, early American professional leagues imported almost all of their players before Canadian leagues began to form in the wake of a mining boom, depriving the U.S. leagues and teams of talented players. Two distinct circuits formed: the Pacific Coast Hockey Association in western Canada and the northwestern U.S., and the National Hockey Association of central Canada, both of which competed for
16335-547: The world. The rise of indoor American football from the late 1980s allowed smaller-scale professional football to be viable. Baseball originated before the American Civil War (1861–1865). First played on sandlots in particular, scoring and record-keeping gave baseball gravity. "Today," notes John Thorn in The Baseball Encyclopedia, "baseball without records is inconceivable." In 1871,
16470-564: The years, the symbol went through various versions, but in 1989, a simplified pictogram symbol of the Rock of Gibraltar was adopted and has been used ever since. The logotype was updated with a proprietary font in 1996. The font, Prudential Roman, was designed by Doyald Young and John March, based on the Century font family. Started in Newark, New Jersey , in 1875, Prudential was originally called The Widows and Orphans Friendly Society , then
16605-442: Was Serena Williams with a $ 29.2 million annual income; the highest-paid male player was Lionel Messi with a $ 127 million annual income. In association football, the average wage for women worldwide is $ 35,000, while for men it is $ 410,730. Attendances in women's leagues also tend to be lower than in men's, and there are fewer corporate sponsors, as well as less money from broadcasting rights. Widespread gender discrepancies hamper
16740-413: Was Zlatan Ibrahimović of A.C. Milan who received a salary of €25.9 million after income tax and which also includes Ibrahimović's bonuses and endorsements . Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona is the world's second highest-paid player receiving a salary of £29.6 million (over US$ 45 million) a year after income taxation and which also includes the incomes of Messi's bonuses and endorsements . In
16875-610: Was $ 3,440,000, the median salary was $ 1,075,000, and the minimum salary had grown to four times the inflation-adjusted average salary in 1970 ($ 480,000). In the Indian Premier League in 2019, players earn an average of $ 101,444, and a median salary of $ 72,450, per week. The top-paid players in international cricket in 2017 across the (at the time) 10 Test cricket nations earned anywhere from $ 90,000 to $ 1,470,000 (when looking only at contract and match fees). Prudential Insurance Prudential Financial, Inc.
17010-605: Was branded as the NatWest Bank Trophy following a deal with National Westminster Bank . The EBBA's player import rules – where teams were restricted to having two foreign "import" players plus one "naturalised" British player – were carried over to the new competition. A small complication arose as the league also featured Scotland-based Livingston, and the ruling meant that English players would count as foreign players for teams based in Scotland. The first game of
17145-444: Was dropped in August 2022 as it was stated to hamper the growth of BBL teams playing in European competitions. 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
17280-503: Was established by owners of 9 different NBL teams to represent their interests as internal conflict arose regarding the financial relationship between them and the EBBA. Kevin Routledge, a director at Leicester Riders , claimed at the time that "there was a feeling about men's clubs that insufficient emphasis was being given to them, particularly recognising that in terms of spectator, sponsorship and media appeal they were very much top of
17415-495: Was established in 1946 and three years later became the modern National Basketball Association . The NBA was slower to establish dominance of the sport than other sports in the United States, as it would not do so until 1976, when it absorbed four teams from the American Basketball Association . Professional basketball has the advantages of much smaller rosters than other professional sports, allowing
17550-417: Was instituted, each team had one "Designated Player" slot with a salary cap charge of $ 400,000, but no limit on actual salary paid. Since then, the number of Designated Players per team has increased to three, with each counting for $ 530,000 of cap room in 2019. The league's average salary was about $ 283,000 per year in 2015, but the median salary was then closer to $ 110,000. MLS' minimum player salary in 2019
17685-472: Was said to have won the "pennant;" the two pennant winners met after the end of the regular season in the World Series. The winner of at least four games (out of a possible seven) was the champion for that year. This arrangement still holds today, although the leagues are now subdivided and pennants are decided in post-season playoff series between the winners of each division. Baseball became popular in
17820-444: Was so tight that George Halas carried equipment, wrote press releases, sold tickets, taped ankles, played and coached for the Decatur club. As opposed to today's standard 17-game schedule, clubs in 1920 scheduled their own opponents and could play non-league and even college squads that counted toward their records. With no established guidelines, the number of games played—and the quality of opponents scheduled—by APFA teams varied, and
17955-400: Was strictly an amateur sport throughout the 19th and most of the 20th century. In 1995, the game's international administrators allowed professionals to participate for the first time. The related sport of rugby league evolved directly out of rugby union's opposition to player payments; it has allowed professionalism in its game since its inception in 1895. Professional athleticism has been
18090-505: Was succeeded as the top-level men's basketball competition with Super League Basketball . The BBL operated as a franchise model where each member team is located within a separate franchise area. Most recently (in 2023/24), the League featured 10 member franchises from England and Scotland who jointly own the organisation and a chairman was elected by the teams to oversee operations. The League offices were located in Leicester where
18225-459: Was the $ 14 million paid to former Swedish international Zlatan Ibrahimović , who played for the LA Galaxy in that season. Ibrahimović was signed to his 2019 contract under MLS' Designated Player Rule , which was instituted in 2007 for the express purpose of attracting international stars. Now-retired English star David Beckham was the first player signed under its provisions. When the rule
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