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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

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

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 € 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 The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

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 t ...

* 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 Racing Mechelen * 1965–66 Racing Mechelen * 1966–67 Racing Mechelen * 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 mo ...

* 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 * 2001–02 Telindus Oostende * 2002–03 Spirou * 2003–04 Spirou * 2004–05 Euphony Bree * 2005–06 Telindus Oostende * 2006–07 Telindus Oostende * 2007–08 Spirou * 2008–09 Spirou * 2009–10 Spirou * 2010–11 Spirou * 2011–12 Telenet Oostende * 2012–13 Telenet Oostende * 2013–14 Telenet Oostende * 2014–15 Telenet Oostende * 2015–16 Telenet Oostende * 2016–17 Telenet Oostende * 2017–18 Telenet Oostende * 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 The Belgian Prayer of the Year (''Belgische Speler van het Jaar'' in Dutch) is an annual Basketball League Belgium Division I award given to the best player with a Belgian nationality. The award is organised by the Belgian newspaper ''Het Nieuw ...

* Coach of the Year * MVP * Star of the Coaches *

Young Player of the Year Young may refer to: * Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents * Youth, the time of life when one is young, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood Music * The Young, an American r ...

*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