Basketball Bundesliga

In Germany, a national domestic basketball championship was first organised in 1939, and it was won by LSV Spandau. By 1944, almost all basketball activity in the country was forced to an end, due to the Second World War. In 1947, MTSV Schwabing München became the first champion of post-war divided Germany. The creation of a split West German federal-league, consisting of one northern division and one southern division, each comprising 10 teams, was decided on by the German Basketball Federation (DBB) in 1964. On 1 October 1966, the first season of the so-called Basketball Bundesliga started. Starting with the 1971–72 season, the size of each division was reduced to 8 teams. With the 1975–76 season, the league structure was changed into a ten team first league (1. Basketball Bundesliga), and a 20 team second league (2. Basketball Bundesliga). Only the second league was split into a northern and a southern division, of 10 teams each. In 1985, the top league was enlarged to a size of 12 teams, and two years later, each division of the second league was also enlarged to 12 teams. In 1988, the championship mode "Best of five" was applied for the first time. Starting with the 1995–96 season, the first league consisted of 14 teams. The Basketball Bundesliga GmbH (BBL) was founded in October 1996. The federal leagues received their own administration within the framework of the German Basketball Federation in 1997. Since then, the second league divisions have been administered by the "AG 2. Bundesliga", while the BBL has been responsible for the first league. Two years later, a contract was signed between the BBL and the German Basketball Federation, in which the federation transferred its marketing/events rights to the BBL, for a 10-year duration, and in return, the BBL agreed to pay an annual "amateur support fee" of DM 600,000 (€ 306,775). Starting with the 2003–04 season, the top league was increased to 16 teams, and in 2006–07, it was further increased to its present size of 18 teams. For the following 2007–08 season, the structure of the second league was reshaped from its northern/southern divisions, into a ProA division, and a ProB division. These divisions remained under the administration by "AG 2. Bundesliga". Between 1994 and 2001, the highest level German basketball league was called "Veltins Basketball Bundesliga", and from 2001, until 2003, the league was known as "s.Oliver Basketball Bundesliga". Bayer Giants Leverkusen hold the league titles won record, being the winner of 14 German Basketball Championships. However, since 1997, Alba Berlin has dominated the league, winning their 8th title in 2008. Twenty-one teams have won the championship, since its inception. Since 2009, Brose Bamberg dominated the competition and won the title in four straight seasons (2009-2013). ==Sponsorship==

In 2016, the BBL joined forces with Tipbet, a Malta-based betting company. This made Tipbet the Official Betting and Premium Sponsor of the league; the sponsorship agreement results in advertising activities throughout the arenas and online, and runs until 2018. ==Arena rules==

Currently, all Bundesliga clubs must play in arenas that seat at least 3,000 people. ==Logos, names, and sponsorship names==

• 1966–2009Basketball Bundesliga • 2009–2016Beko BBL • 2016–2021easyCredit BBL File:BEKO BBL logo 2015.png|Logo of 2010–2016 ==Clubs==

Members of the 2025–26 Basketball Bundesliga. Arenas and locations ==Title holders==

• 1938–39: LSV Spandau • 1939-46: Not held due to World War II • 1946–47: MTSV Schwabing • 1947–48: Turnerbund Heidelberg • 1948–49: MTSV Schwabing • 1949–50: Stuttgart-Degerloch • 1950–51: Turnerbund Heidelberg • 1951–52: Turnerbund Heidelberg • 1952–53: Turnerbund Heidelberg • 1953–54: Bayern Munich • 1954–55: Bayern Munich • 1955–56: ATV Düsseldorf • 1956–57: USC Heidelberg • 1957–58: USC Heidelberg • 1958–59: USC Heidelberg • 1959–60: USC Heidelberg • 1960–61: USC Heidelberg • 1961–62: USC Heidelberg • 1962–63: Alemannia Aachen • 1963–64: Alemannia Aachen • 1964–65: Gießen 46ers • 1965–66: USC Heidelberg • 1966–67: Gießen 46ers • 1967–68: Gießen 46ers • 1968–69: VfL Osnabrück • 1969–70: TuS 04 Leverkusen • 1970–71: TuS 04 Leverkusen • 1971–72: TuS 04 Leverkusen • 1972–73: USC Heidelberg • 1973–74: SSV Hagen • 1974–75: Gießen 46ers • 1975–76: TuS 04 Leverkusen • 1976–77: USC Heidelberg • 1977–78: Gießen 46ers • 1978–79: TuS 04 Leverkusen • 1979–80: ASC 1846 Göttingen • 1980–81: Saturn 77 Köln • 1981–82: Saturn 77 Köln • 1982–83: ASC 1846 Göttingen • 1983–84: ASC 1846 Göttingen • 1984–85: Bayer 04 Leverkusen • 1985–86: Bayer 04 Leverkusen • 1986–87: Saturn 77 Köln • 1987–88: Saturn 77 Köln • 1988–89: Steiner Bayreuth • 1989–90: Bayer 04 Leverkusen • 1990–91: Bayer 04 Leverkusen • 1991–92: Bayer 04 Leverkusen • 1992–93: Bayer 04 Leverkusen • 1993–94: Bayer 04 Leverkusen • 1994–95: Bayer 04 Leverkusen • 1995–96: Bayer 04 Leverkusen • 1996–97: Alba Berlin • 1997–98: Alba Berlin • 1998–99: Alba Berlin • 1999–00: Alba Berlin • 2000–01: Alba Berlin • 2001–02: Alba Berlin • 2002–03: Alba Berlin • 2003–04: Opel Skyliners • 2004–05: GHP Bamberg • 2005–06: RheinEnergie Köln • 2006–07: Brose Baskets • 2007–08: Alba Berlin • 2008–09: EWE Baskets Oldenburg • 2009–10: Brose Baskets • 2010–11: Brose Baskets • 2011–12: Brose Baskets • 2012–13: Brose Baskets • 2013–14: Bayern Munich • 2014–15: Brose Baskets • 2015–16: Brose Baskets • 2016–17: Brose Bamberg • 2017–18: Bayern Munich • 2018–19: Bayern Munich • 2019–20: Alba Berlin • 2020–21: Alba Berlin • 2021–22: Alba Berlin • 2022–23: Ratiopharm Ulm • 2023–24: Bayern Munich • 2024–25: Bayern Munich ==Titles by club==

Finals MVPs • Player nationality by national team. ==See also==