By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
The season has already started in France and Lithuania, most of the leagues are having their tip-off this week, and it’s time for the annual Eurohoops ranking of the European domestic leagues. While in general, you could say once more that few things changed compared to last season, practically this is going to be a more than a pivotal year for the domestic leagues.
There’s no connection anymore between a EuroLeague ticket and the domestic results. The traditional European sports model is practically changing for the first time in any sport, and that will be an extra challenge for many of the local leagues. As FIBA secretary general Andreas Zagklis said back in May: “What is most important here is that this is a moment of truth for national leagues in Europe. Either they will become stronger and maintain and even grow their position as we believe they should as they represent the vast majority of clubs, or they will become what the ECA want them to be, which is the third division of Europe”.
Like last year, the Top10 is divided into three tiers. And as expected, the top tier includes just two leagues with the BSL keeping the third spot, but also dropping to the second tier. And once again, the leagues of Belgium and Poland, despite their progress, missed the cut.
OVERALL RANKING
- ACB Liga Endesa – Spain (-)
- VTB United League (-)
- BSL – Turkey (-)
- Jeep ELITE ProA – France (+1)
- Lega Basket Serie A– Italy (-1)
- Easy credit BBL -Germany (+1)
- HEBA Basket League – Greece (-1)
- Adriatic League (-)
- Winner’s League – Israel (+1)
- LKL – Lithuania (-1)
FIRST TIER
ACB
It remains the best domestic league in Europe and the golden standard for anyone else. That was proven once more with the Supercopa event in Madrid. A record crowd of 12.348 had attended the final, Spain is the FIBA World Cup winner, and the conditions for the growth of the sport are more favorable than ever. Plus the players have a strong union, a good CBA and financial struggles are the exceptions for the Spanish clubs and not the rule.
Still, the direct revenues from Liga Endesa are not what anyone should expect – roughly 600.000 euros per club – and if you are not connected to a big football club, you struggle. Here’s an interesting debate from the “Johan Cruyff Institute” about the state of the league. The access to European competitions – which in EuroLeague’s case is non-existent any more – and the relatively cheap television rights are pretty much the challenges that all domestic leagues are facing.