The British Basketball League was one of the oldest basketball tournaments in the world before it was folded this year for various reasons. The league was established in 1987 due to the dissatisfaction among the team owners of the previous league.
The idea of setting up the British Basketball League was pretty different at the start. However, it changed with time and the league became a platform for top-level basketball in the UK. It helped develop domestic talent and promote the sport nationally.
A series of events led to the development and later the downfall of the British Basketball League. Find out below what happened.
History of the British Basketball League
The Basketball England Amateur Basketball Association (ABBA) was founded in 1936. The organization is the governing body of the sport of basketball in England. It established the ABBA National Championship which featured regional champion teams from across England and Wales.
Over the next 15 years, the league saw exponential growth. Investments came from many sources, including football clubs like Manchester United and Portsmouth. In 1975, ABBA became the English Basketball Association (EBBA). In 1982, the league’s first-ever broadcasting deal was made with television channel Channel 4, which further increased its visibility.
In 1982, the team owners and the EBBA decided to set up a joint venture company, Basketball Marketing Limited was established to market the league. Then in 1983, the owners of nine teams decided to form the Basketball Owners’ Association (BOA) to represent their interests. This is where the seeds of the British Basketball League were sown due to an internal conflict between these owners and the EBBA. The owners felt that they were not receiving sponsorship revenue equally. The Division 1 teams mostly received only a fraction of the actual return promised.
As dissatisfaction grew, a group of team owners decided to organize a breakaway competition, and thus, the British Basketball League was born. To fight the prevailing issues related to revenue, the owners decided to have an equitable structure where teams would have equal shareholding and greater control over their financial destinies.
Structure and Format of the British Basketball League
The first-ever British Basketball League season, 1987-88, saw 15 teams competing against each other. Each team played 28 games. Portsmouth won 26 out of 28 matches and won the regular season title. In the final, however, the third-seeded Livingston caused a huge upset and became the inaugural BBL champion.
BBL Championship
Ten teams participated in the last concluded edition of the British Basketball League. At the start of the tournament, each team competed for the BBL Championship. Each season used to run from September to April, and teams played each other in a double round-robin format.
At the end of the season, the team that earned the highest number of points was declared the winner of the BBL Championship and the British Champions.
After the Championship, eight teams moved to the playoff stage. The teams battled it out in a knockout tournament to see who would be the ultimate champion. The grand finale took place at The O2 Arena in London, where the two best teams faced off in a thrilling one-game showdown to claim the title.
BBL Cup
In 2003, the British basketball system underwent a series of reinventions. The National Basketball League was rebranded the English Basketball League, and new rules were introduced. This didn’t go down well with the British Basketball League and they decided to start their own competition and thus, the BBL Cup was born. The first-ever season of the BBL Cup was played during the 2003-04 season.
Since the 2019-20 season, the tournament has a group stage followed by a knockout stage. In the group stage, the teams were divided into North and South groups and followed a double round-robin system with both groups. The top two teams from both groups qualified for the knockouts and faced each other in the semi-finals. The winners of the semi-finals take on each other in the ultimate showdown in the final played at the Arena Birmingham in Birmingham.
BBL Trophy
Before BBL, there used to be a tournament called the Anglo-Scottish Cup – and subsequently the British Master’s Cup. The tournament had teams from the English and Scottish leagues facing each other. However, it was scrapped after the formation of BBL and was replaced by the BBL Trophy.
In the past, the first round of the Trophy used a round-robin format. However, in recent years, the tournament followed a knockout style and teams were paired up randomly to play against each other. The tournament followed no rankings or seeds and a draw took place after most of the games in each round had been played.
The Trophy included all teams from the British Basketball League and sometimes teams from the English Basketball League and the Scottish Basketball League were invited to join in the competition. The big finale, where the last two teams faced off for the trophy, usually took place in March at a neutral location.
BBL Teams
A total of 24 teams have featured in the competition since the start of the British Basketball League. The last season had 10 teams competing against each other. These teams were: Newcastle Eagles, Leicester Riders, Sheffield Sharks, London Lions, Cheshire Phoenix, Surrey Scorchers, Caledonia Gladiators, Bristol Flyers, Manchester Giants, and Plymouth City Patriots.
Newcastle Eagles were the most successful team in the history of BBL. They won the BBL Championship, BBL Playoffs, BBL Cup, and BBL Trophy on seven occasions each and finished as runners-up 19 times. However, things didn’t look great for the Eagles in the past couple of seasons as their last league title came in 2014/15.
Leicester Riders and Sheffield Sharks were the next two most successful teams, having won the championship on six and four occasions, respectively. London Lions, Cheshire Phoenix, and Surrey Scorchers were the only other teams that won championships on one or more occasions.
MVP (Most Valuable Player) Award Winners
Six players have won the MVP award two times – Alton Byrd, Tony Dorsey, Trey Moore, Andrew Sullivan, Rahmon Fletcher, and Justin Robinson. The award has been shared between two players only once – Jeff Bonds and Brian Dux in 2006/2007 because of a tie in the voting.
Only three players born in Britain have won the award – Roger Huggins, Andrew Sullivan, and Justin Robinson.
Why BBL’s License was Terminated
The British Basketball Federation (BBF) announced in June 2024 that they were terminating BBL’s operating license because of concerns over its financial health. Another reason was the misappropriation of funds by the private equity firm, 777 Partners, which owns a 50% stake in the league.
All clubs – except Manchester and Plymouth, who are owned by BBL – released a joint statement saying they accept the decision in good faith. They are in talks to bring in a new company to replace 777 Partners, however, this will depend on whether or not BLL will challenge BBF’s decision.
While canceling the license, British Basketball has promised that measures would be put in place to organize the 2024/25 season. Only time will tell if the new tournament can replace the legacy that the British Basketball League has left behind.
What Happens Next
A consortium of clubs has been granted permission to run the league. Since BBF owns the intellectual rights to “BBL”, the new league in place is called the Super League Basketball (SLB).
There are nine teams in the current SLB season – Bristol Flyers, Caledonia Gladiators, Cheshire Phoenix, Leicester Riders, London Lions, Manchester Basketball, Newcastle Eagles, Sheffield Sharks, and Surrey 89ers. SLB starts on 3rd November and the matches will go on till the 27th of April next year.
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