Basketball in Spain

Barclaycard Center, Real Madrid’s Arena.

Country| Spain
Governing body| FEB
National team(s)| Spain
First played| 1923
Registered players| 385,110[1]
Clubs| 3,619 [1]

National competitions

List

*     * FIBA World Cup
* EuroBasket
* Summer Olympics

Club competitions

List

*     * League:
Liga Endesa
LEB Oro
LEB Plata
Liga EBA
Primera División
* Cups:
Copa del Rey
Copa Federación
Supercopa de España

International competitions

List

*     * Euroleague
* Eurocup
* Basketball Champions League
* FIBA Europe Cup

Basketball is the second most popular sport in Spain, directly behind association football. The top Spanish League, Liga ACB, is a member of ULEB, and the top Spanish League teams can compete in Europe, most notably in the Euroleague and Eurocup, and also under the FIBA Europe umbrella, in the FIBA Europe Cup. The Spanish teams also compete in a national domestic cup competition each year, called the Copa del Rey de Baloncesto, which is played by the top eight teams in the standings of the Liga ACB, at the end of the first half of the regular season.

## Spanish basketball league system

[edit]

Main article: Spanish basketball league system

### The tier levels

[edit]

For the 2018–19 season, the Spanish basketball league system is as follows:

Level  | League

|

1  | Liga ACB
(18 teams)
(previously Liga Nacional)
2  | Primera FEB
Formerly LEB Oro
(18 teams)
3  | Segunda FEB
Formerly LEB Plata
(24 teams)
4  | Tercera FEB Group A
Formerly Liga EBA

(2 sub-groups of 14 teams each)  | Tercera FEB Group B
Formerly Liga EBA

(16 teams)  | Tercera FEB Group C
Formerly Liga EBA

(2 sub-groups of 14 teams each)  | Tercera FEB Group D
Formerly Liga EBA

(2 sub-groups of 10 teams each)  | Tercera FEB Group E
Formerly Liga EBA

(16 teams)
5  | Primera División
(15 groups, one for each autonomous community except Basque Country, La Rioja, and Navarra, who share the same group; in Catalonia, known as Copa Catalunya)
| Regional and lower divisions

## Evolution of the Spanish basketball league system

[edit]

Tier\Years | 1957–78 | 1978–83 | 1983–90 | 1990–94 | 1994–96 | 1996–2000 | 2000–07 | 2007–09 | 2009–

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1 | 1ª División | ACB
2 | 2ª División | 1ª División B | 1ª División | EBA | LEB (since 2007, LEB Oro)
3 | 3ª División | 2ª División | EBA | LEB 2 (since 2007, LEB Plata)
4 | Lower | 3ª División | Lower | Lower | Lower | 2ª División | EBA | LEB Bronce | EBA
5 | Lower | Lower | 1ª División | EBA | 1ª División
6 | Lower | 1ª División | Lower
7 | Lower

## Spanish women's basketball league system

[edit]

Level  | League

|

1  | Liga Femenina
(14 teams)
2  | Liga Femenina Challenge
(16 teams)
3  | Liga Femenina 2 Group A
(12 teams)  | Liga Femenina 2 Group B
(12 teams)
4  | 1ª División Group A
| 1ª División Group B
| 1ª División Group C
| 1ª División Group D
| 1ª División Group E

## Spain national basketball team

[edit]

### Men's team

[edit]

Main article: Spain men's national basketball team

### Women's team

[edit]

Main article: Spain women's national basketball team

## Autonomous teams

[edit]

Like in football, several Autonomous Communities have their own autonomous team. These teams are not recognized by FIBA Europe, and only play in friendly games.

Between 2008 and 2010, the Torneo de las Naciones was played between the teams of Basque Country, Catalonia, and Galicia, and a foreign national team was invited. The following Autonomous Communities have played at least one friendly game:

* Andalusia
* Aragon
* Asturias
* Balearic Islands
* Basque Country
* [[Cantabria {{{altlink}}}|Cantabria]]
* Castile and León
* Catalonia
* Galicia

Also,  Menorca has got a basketball team which plays biennially in the Island Games.

On the other hand, Gibraltar has its own national team recognized by FIBA Europe.  Gibraltar plays biannually in the European Basketball Championship for Small Countries and, like Menorca, the Island Games.

## Other competitions

[edit]

* Copa del Rey de Baloncesto
* Supercopa de España de Baloncesto
* Copa Príncipe de Asturias

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Anuario de estadísticas deportivas 2019" (PDF). culturaydeporte.gob.es (in Spanish). Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 July 2019. Retrieved 13 April 2023.

## External links

[edit]

* Liga ACB Official Website (in Spanish)
* Spanish Basketball Federation (in Spanish)
* Basketball In Spain (In English)

* v
* t
* e

Sport in Spain

* Athletics
* Basketball
* Disability
* Football
* Futsal
* Handball
* Rugby
* Tennis
* Water polo

* Spain at Olympics
* Paralympics
* Deaflympics
* World Games
* Team sport

* v
* t
* e

Basketball in Spain

* CSD
* TAD
* COE
* FEB
* ACB
* Spanish League Pyramid
* Clubs
* List of venues (by capacity)

National teams|

| Men|

* Spain
* Results
* Head to head
* U-20
* U-19
* U-18
* U-17
* U-16
* 3x3
* Wheelchair basketball

|

Women|

* Spain
* Results
* Head to head
* U-20
* U-19
* U-18
* U-17
* U-16
* 3x3

League competitions|

| Men|

* ACB
* Primera FEB
* Segunda FEB
* Tercera FEB
* Primera División
* Wheelchair league

|

Women|

* LF
* LF Challenge
* LF 2

Cup competitions|

| Men|

* Supercopa de España
* Copa del Rey
* Copa España
* Copa Príncipe de Asturias ACB (defunct)
* Copa Princesa de Asturias (defunct)
* Copa LEB Plata (defunct)

|

Women|

* Supercopa de España
* Copa de la Reina

Youth competitions|

* Liga U

Regional cups|

* Copa Andalucía
* Lliga Catalana
* Euskal Kopa
* Torneo CAM
* Copa Castilla y León
* Copa Galicia

Regional teams|

* Andalusia
* Aragon
* Asturias
* Balearic Islands
* Basque Country
* Cantabria
* Castile and León
* Catalonia
* Galicia

* v
* t
* e

Basketball in Europe

* Albania
* Andorra
* Armenia
* Austria
* Azerbaijan
* Belarus
* Belgium
* Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Bulgaria
* Croatia
* Cyprus
* Czech Republic
* Denmark
* Estonia
* Finland
* France
* Georgia
* Germany
* Gibraltar
* Great Britain
* England
* Scotland
* Wales
* Greece
* Hungary
* Iceland
* Ireland
* Israel
* Italy
* Kosovo
* Latvia
* Lithuania
* Luxembourg
* Malta
* Moldova
* Monaco
* Montenegro
* Netherlands
* North Macedonia
* Norway
* Poland
* Portugal
* Romania
* Russia
* San Marino
* Serbia
* Slovakia
* Slovenia
* Spain
* Sweden
* Switzerland
* Turkey
* Ukraine

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template