The Pro Basketball League (PBL), was the highest tier level professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

league in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

for

clubs Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album '' kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

. In 2021, the league was succeeded by the Belgian-Dutch

BNXT League The BNXT League, for sponsorship reasons the betFirst BNXT League, is a professional basketball league in Belgium and the Netherlands. The league is the first tier in both the Dutch and Belgian system, replacing the DBL and PBL. The inaugural s ...

. Through 2014, for sponsorship reasons, the league was previously known as the Ethias League, and from 2014 to 2016, it was known as the Scoore! League, also for sponsorship reasons. The league is organized by the Basketball League Belgium. The current president of the league is Maarten Bostyn. The most successful team in the league is Oostende, which holds the record for the most league titles won, with 22, and the now defunct team of

Racing Mechelen K.R.C. Mechelen is a Belgian association football club from Mechelen in the Antwerp province. It is a long-time rival of KV Mechelen. The club's best position ever is a second place in the first division 1951–52. KRC Mechelen also reached th ...

is second, with 15.

History

On 15 March 2020, as a result of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

the season was prematurely cancelled. Based on the standings in the regular season, Filou Oostende was crowned national champions.

Sponsorship names

*Until 2014: Ethias League * 2014–2016: Scooore! League * 2016–present EuroMillions Basketball League File:Ethias League logo.png, Ethias League logo Scooore League logo.png, Scooore! League logo (2014–2016)

Format and rules

The BLB is played by the international

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its nam ...

rules Rule or ruling may refer to: Education * Royal University of Law and Economics (RULE), a university in Cambodia Human activity * The exercise of political or personal control by someone with authority or power * Business rule, a rule pert ...

. Since 2014–15 the BLB season has a new format. In the regular season, all teams play each other first home and away. After that first round the league is divided in two groups based on standings; in the first group teams ranked 1–6 play and in the second 7–11. After the split each team plays all others in its group once home and once away. After that the Playoffs are played by eight teams. The quarterfinals consist of best-of-three series and the semi- and finals are played in a best-of-five format.

Licensing

Teams that play in the BLB all have to get a license to play in the league. There are three types of licenses: *A-license: for teams who have more than a

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

1 million budget. A-licensed team can qualify for European competitions. *B-license: teams with at least a €750,000 budget. B-licensed teams can't qualify for European play. *C-licence: given to teams that are on the rise, with a budget of at least €400,000. C-licenses do not allow teams to qualify for European play and have to get replaced by B-licenses after two years.

Current clubs

Finals

Since 2005, play-offs are played to decide which team is crowned the champion of each season. The finals series are played in a best-of-five format, with the team which had the higher seed in the regular season having home court advantage.

Performances by club (2005–present)

Title holders

* 1927–28 Brussels A.C. * 1928–29 Daring B.C. * 1929–30 Brussels A.C. * 1930–31 Brussels A.C. * 1931–32 Daring B.C. * 1932–33 Brussels A.C. * 1933–34 Daring B.C. * 1934–35 Amicale Sportive * 1935–36 Amicale Sportive * 1936–37

Fresh Air ''Fresh Air'' is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States since 1985. It is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show's host is Terry Gross. , the show was syndicated to ...

* 1937–38

* 1938–39 Royal IV * 1939–41 Not held due to WWII * 1941–42 Royal IV * 1942–45 Not held due to WWII * 1945–46 Semailles * 1946–47 Semailles * 1947–48 Semailles * 1948–49 Semailles * 1949–50 Semailles * 1950–51 Semailles * 1951–52 Royal IV * 1953–53 Royal IV * 1953–54 Royal IV * 1954–55 Hellas Gent * 1955–56 Antwerpse * 1956–57 Royal IV * 1957–58 Royal IV * 1958–59 Antwerpse * 1959–60 Antwerpse * 1960–61 Antwerpse * 1961–62 Antwerpse * 1962–63 Antwerpse * 1963–64 Antwerpse * 1964–65

* 1965–66

* 1966–67

* 1967–68

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most ...

* 1968–69 Racing Bell Mechelen * 1969–70

* 1970–71 Bus Fruit Lier * 1971–72 Bus Fruit Lier * 1972–73 Racing Antwerpen * 1973–74 Maes Pils * 1974–75 Maes Pils * 1975–76 Maes Pils * 1976–77

* 1977–78

* 1978–79

* 1979–80 Maes Pils * 1980–81 Sunair Oostende * 1981–82 Sunair Oostende * 1982–83 Sunair Oostende * 1983–84 Sunair Oostende * 1984–85 Sunair Oostende * 1985–86 Sunair Oostende * 1986–87 Maes Pils * 1987–88 Sunair Oostende * 1988–89 Maes Pils * 1989–90 Maes Pils * 1990–91 Maes Pils * 1991–92 Maes Pils * 1992–93 Maes Pils * 1993–94 Maes Pils * 1994–95 Sunair Oostende * 1995–96 Spirou * 1996–97 Spirou * 1997–98 Spirou * 1998–99 Spirou * 1999–00 Telindus Racing Antwerpen * 2000–01

Telindus Oostende Basketball Club Oostende, for sponsorship reasons Filou Oostende, is a Belgium, Belgian professional basketball team. The club is based in Ostend and was founded in 1970. The club competes domestically in the BNXT League and internationally in t ...

* 2001–02

* 2002–03 Spirou * 2003–04 Spirou * 2004–05 Euphony Bree * 2005–06

* 2006–07

* 2007–08 Spirou * 2008–09 Spirou * 2009–10 Spirou * 2010–11 Spirou * 2011–12

Telenet Oostende Basketball Club Oostende, for sponsorship reasons Filou Oostende, is a Belgium, Belgian professional basketball team. The club is based in Ostend and was founded in 1970. The club competes domestically in the BNXT League and internationally in t ...

* 2012–13

* 2013–14

* 2014–15

* 2015–16

* 2016–17

* 2017–18

* 2018–19 Filou Oostende * 2019–20 Filou Oostende * 2020–21 Filou Oostende * 2021–22 Filou Oostende

Performance by club

Individual awards

Not all awards are official ones handed out by the league itself, but all are regarded and respected as BLB awards. As example the Belgian Player of the Year award is handed out by the Belgian newspaper ''

Het Nieuwsblad ''Het Nieuwsblad'' (; en, The Newspaper) is a Flemish newspaper that mainly focusses on "a broad view" regarding politics, culture, economics, lifestyle, society and sports. History and profile In 1929, ''Het Nieuwsblad'' was published by ...

'', but the league itself reports the winner on its website. * Belgian Basketball Player of the year * Coach of the Year * MVP * Star of the Coaches * Young Player of the Year *Lifetime Achievement Award

References

External links

Official website

Eurobasket.com League Page
{{Men's professional basketball leagues Basketball leagues in Europe Basketball competitions in Belgium Professional sports leagues in Belgium