EuroLeague

Turkish Airlines EuroLeague

Founded	FIBA era 1957
First season	FIBA era 1958 Euroleague Basketball era 2000–01
Region	Europe
Number of teams	18
Current champions	Real Madrid (11th title)
Most championships	Real Madrid (11 titles)

The EuroLeague, known as the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague for sponsorship reasons, is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier men's league in Europe. The league consists of 18 teams, of which 16 are given long-term licences and wild cards, making the league a semi-closed league. The league was first organized by FIBA in 1958, subsequently by ULEB in 2000 and then solely the Euroleague Basketball.

The competition was introduced in 1958 as the FIBA European Champions Cup (renamed to the FIBA EuroLeague in 1996), which operated under FIBA's umbrella until Euroleague Basketball was created for the 2000–01 season. The FIBA European Champions Cup and the EuroLeague are considered to be the same competition, with the change of name being simply a re-branding.

The EuroLeague is one of the most popular indoor sports leagues in the world, with an average attendance of 8,780 for league matches in the 2017–18 season. This was the fifth-highest of any professional indoor sports league in the world (the highest outside the United States), and the second-highest of any professional basketball league in the world, only behind the National Basketball Association (NBA).

The EuroLeague title has been won by 22 clubs, 14 of which have won it more than once. The most successful club in the competition is Real Madrid, with eleven titles, including the most recent one in 2023.

Format

File:Forum Assago Euroleague Final Four 2014.jpg

The setting of the 2014 EuroLeague Final Four, in Milan.

Starting with the 2016–17 season, the EuroLeague is made up of 18 teams, with each playing every other team twice (once at home and once away) in a double round robin league regular season, for a total of 34 games played by each team.

The top 8 placed teams at the end of the regular season advance to playoffs, each playing a 5-game playoff series against a single opponent. The regular season standings are used to determine which teams play each other, and in each pairing the higher placed team has home-court advantage in the series, playing 3 of the 5 games at home. The winners of each of the four playoff series advance to the Final Four, held at a predetermined site. The Final Four features two semi-finals, a third place game, and the championship game, all on the same weekend.

Each team plays a maximum 41 games per season: 34 in the regular season, a maximum of 5 during the playoffs, and 2 in the Final Four.

Qualification

Currently (and since the suspension of Russian teams because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine), 12 out of the 18 EuroLeague places are held by licensed clubs that have long-term licenses with Euroleague Basketball, and are members of the Shareholders Executive Board. These twelve licensed clubs are:

Template:Country data TURTemplate:Namespace detect showall Anadolu Efes ASVEL Baskonia Bayern Munich

FC Barcelona Template:Country data TURTemplate:Namespace detect showall Fenerbahçe Template:Country data ISRTemplate:Namespace detect showall Maccabi Tel Aviv Olimpia Milano

Olympiacos Panathinaikos Real Madrid Template:Country data LTUTemplate:Namespace detect showall Žalgiris

The remaining 6 EuroLeague places are held by 6 associated clubs that have annual licences, of which one has a two-year wild card, three have one-year wild-cards and two are the finalists of the previous season's 2nd-tier European competition, the EuroCup. From the 2020/21 season, however, if the better of the two teams from the EuroCup makes it to the playoffs, it keeps the place for the following year.

Arena standards

Effective as of the 2012–13 season, EuroLeague clubs with what was at the time an "A License" had to host their home EuroLeague games in arenas that had a seating capacity of at least 10,000 people. This same minimum 10,000-seat arena capacity rule, now currently applies to all EuroLeague clubs with a long-term license.

Previously, in 2008, the Euroleague Basketball had originally decided to increase the minimum arena seating requirement to 10,000, within four years time, to force EuroLeague clubs to move into and/or build bigger arenas. This was done in hopes of increasing revenues through more ticket sales. Conversely, associated clubs, must currently play in arenas that seat at least 5,000 people.

Results

Year	Finalists				Semi-finalists
	Champion	Score	Runner-up		Third place	Fourth place
1958 Details	Rīgas ASK	170–152 (86–81 / 71–84)	Template:Country data BULTemplate:Namespace detect showall Academic		Real Madrid and Template:Country data HUNTemplate:Namespace detect showall Budapesti Honvéd
1958–59 Details	Rīgas ASK	148–125 (79–58 / 67–69)	Template:Country data BULTemplate:Namespace detect showall Academic		Lech Poznań OKK Beograd
1959–60 Details	Rīgas ASK	130–113 (51–61 / 69–62)	Dinamo Tbilisi		Slovan Orbis Praha and Polonia Warszawa
1960–61 Details	CSKA Moscow	148–128 (87–62 / 66–61)	Rīgas ASK		Template:Country data ROMTemplate:Namespace detect showall CCA București and Real Madrid
1961–62 Details	Dinamo Tbilisi	90–83	Real Madrid		CSKA Moscow and AŠK Olimpija
1962–63 Details	CSKA Moscow	259–240 (86–69 / 91–74 / 99–80)	Real Madrid		Dinamo Tbilisi and Spartak ZJŠ Brno
1963–64 Details	Real Madrid	183–174 (110–99 / 84–64)	Spartak ZJŠ Brno		Simmenthal Milano and OKK Beograd
1964–65 Details	Real Madrid	157–150 (88–81 / 76–62)	CSKA Moscow		OKK Beograd and Ignis Varese
1965–66 Details	Simmenthal Milano	77–72	Slavia VŠ Praha		CSKA Moscow	AEK
1966–67 Details	Real Madrid	91–83	Simmenthal Milano		Slavia VŠ Praha	AŠK Olimpija
1967–68 Details	Real Madrid	98–95	Spartak ZJŠ Brno		Zadar and Simmenthal Milano
1968–69 Details	CSKA Moscow	103–99 (2 OT's)	Real Madrid		Spartak ZJŠ Brno and Template:Country data BELTemplate:Namespace detect showall Standard Liège
1969–70 Details	Ignis Varese	79–74	CSKA Moscow		Real Madrid and Slavia VŠ Praha
1970–71 Details	CSKA Moscow	67–53	Ignis Varese		Slavia VŠ Praha and Real Madrid
1971–72 Details	Ignis Varese	70–69	Jugoplastika		Panathinaikos and Real Madrid
1972–73 Details	Ignis Varese	71–66	CSKA Moscow		Simmenthal Milano and Crvena zvezda
1973–74 Details	Real Madrid	84–82	Ignis Varese		Berck and Radnički Belgrade
1974–75 Details	Ignis Varese	79–66	Real Madrid		Berck and Zadar
1975–76 Details	Mobilgirgi Varese	81–74	Real Madrid		Birra Forst Cantù and ASVEL
1976–77 Details	Template:Country data ISRTemplate:Namespace detect showall Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv	78–77	Mobilgirgi Varese		CSKA Moscow	Real Madrid
1977–78 Details	Real Madrid	75–67	Mobilgirgi Varese		ASVEL	Template:Country data ISRTemplate:Namespace detect showall Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv
1978–79 Details	Bosna	75–67	Emerson Varese		Template:Country data ISRTemplate:Namespace detect showall Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv	Real Madrid
1979–80 Details	Real Madrid	89–85	Template:Country data ISRTemplate:Namespace detect showall Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv		Bosna	Sinudyne Bologna
1980–81 Details	Template:Country data ISRTemplate:Namespace detect showall Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv	80–79	Sinudyne Bologna		Template:Country data NEDTemplate:Namespace detect showall Nashua EBBC	Bosna
1981–82 Details	Squibb Cantù	86–80	Template:Country data ISRTemplate:Namespace detect showall Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv		Partizan	FC Barcelona
1982–83 Details	Ford Cantù	69–68	Billy Milano		Real Madrid	CSKA Moscow
1983–84 Details	Banco di Roma	79–73	FC Barcelona		Jollycolombani Cantù	Bosna
1984–85 Details	Cibona	87–78	Real Madrid		Template:Country data ISRTemplate:Namespace detect showall Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv	CSKA Moscow
1985–86 Details	Cibona	94–82	Template:Country data LTUTemplate:Namespace detect showall Žalgiris		Simac Milano	Real Madrid
1986–87 Details	Tracer Milano	71–69	Template:Country data ISRTemplate:Namespace detect showall Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv		Orthez	Zadar
1987–88 Details	Tracer Milano	90–84	Template:Country data ISRTemplate:Namespace detect showall Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv		Partizan	Aris
1988–89 Details	Jugoplastika	75–69	Template:Country data ISRTemplate:Namespace detect showall Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv		Aris	FC Barcelona
1989–90 Details	Jugoplastika	72–67	FC Barcelona Banca Catalana		Limoges CSP	Aris
1990–91 Details	POP 84	70–65	FC Barcelona Banca Catalana		Template:Country data ISRTemplate:Namespace detect showall Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv	Scavolini Pesaro
1991–92 Details	Partizan	71–70	Montigalà Joventut		Philips Milano	Estudiantes Argentaria
1992–93 Details	Limoges CSP	59–55	Benetton Treviso		PAOK	Real Madrid Teka
1993–94 Details	7up Joventut	59–57	Olympiacos		Panathinaikos	FC Barcelona Banca Catalana
1994–95 Details	Real Madrid Teka	73–61	Olympiacos		Panathinaikos	Limoges CSP
1995–96 Details	Panathinaikos	67–66	FC Barcelona Banca Catalana		CSKA Moscow	Real Madrid Teka
1996–97 Details	Olympiacos	73–58	FC Barcelona Banca Catalana		Smelt Olimpija	ASVEL
1997–98 Details	Kinder Bologna	58–44	AEK		Benetton Treviso	Template:Country data FRYTemplate:Namespace detect showall Partizan Zepter
1998–99 Details	Template:Country data LTUTemplate:Namespace detect showall Žalgiris	82–74	Kinder Bologna		Olympiacos	Teamsystem Bologna
1999–00 Details	Panathinaikos	73–67	Template:Country data ISRTemplate:Namespace detect showall Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv		Template:Country data TURTemplate:Namespace detect showall Efes Pilsen	FC Barcelona
2000–01 Details	Template:Country data ISRTemplate:Namespace detect showall Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv	81–67	Panathinaikos		Template:Country data TURTemplate:Namespace detect showall Efes Pilsen	CSKA Moscow
2000–01 Details	Kinder Bologna	3–2 play-off	Tau Cerámica		Paf Wennington Bologna and AEK
2001–02 Details	Panathinaikos	89–83	Kinder Bologna		Template:Country data ISRTemplate:Namespace detect showall Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv and Benetton Treviso
2002–03 Details	FC Barcelona	76–65	Benetton Treviso		Montepaschi Siena	CSKA Moscow
2003–04 Details	Template:Country data ISRTemplate:Namespace detect showall Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv	118–74	Skipper Bologna		CSKA Moscow	Montepaschi Siena
2004–05 Details	Template:Country data ISRTemplate:Namespace detect showall Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv	90–78	Tau Cerámica		Panathinaikos	CSKA Moscow
2005–06 Details	CSKA Moscow	73–69	Template:Country data ISRTemplate:Namespace detect showall Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv		Tau Cerámica	Winterthur FC Barcelona
2006–07 Details	Panathinaikos	93–91	CSKA Moscow		Unicaja	Tau Cerámica
2007–08 Details	CSKA Moscow	91–77	Template:Country data ISRTemplate:Namespace detect showall Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv		Montepaschi Siena	Tau Cerámica
2008–09 Details	Panathinaikos	73–71	CSKA Moscow		Regal FC Barcelona	Olympiacos
2009–10 Details	Regal FC Barcelona	86–68	Olympiacos		CSKA Moscow	Partizan
2010–11 Details	Panathinaikos	78–70	Template:Country data ISRTemplate:Namespace detect showall Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv		Montepaschi Siena	Real Madrid
2011–12 Details	Olympiacos	62–61	CSKA Moscow		FC Barcelona Regal	Panathinaikos
2012–13 Details	Olympiacos	100–88	Real Madrid		CSKA Moscow	FC Barcelona Regal
2013–14 Details	Template:Country data ISRTemplate:Namespace detect showall Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv	98–86 (OT)	Real Madrid		FC Barcelona	CSKA Moscow
2014–15 Details	Real Madrid	78–59	Olympiacos		CSKA Moscow	Template:Country data TURTemplate:Namespace detect showall Fenerbahçe Ülker
2015–16 Details	CSKA Moscow	101–96 (OT)	Template:Country data TURTemplate:Namespace detect showall Fenerbahçe		Lokomotiv Kuban	Laboral Kutxa
2016–17 Details	Template:Country data TURTemplate:Namespace detect showall Fenerbahçe	80–64	Olympiacos		CSKA Moscow	Real Madrid
2017–18 Details	Real Madrid	85–80	Template:Country data TURTemplate:Namespace detect showall Fenerbahçe Doğuş		Template:Country data LTUTemplate:Namespace detect showall Žalgiris	CSKA Moscow
2018–19 Details	CSKA Moscow	91–83	Template:Country data TURTemplate:Namespace detect showall Anadolu Efes	Real Madrid	Template:Country data TURTemplate:Namespace detect showall Fenerbahçe Beko
2019–20 Details	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21 Details	Template:Country data TURTemplate:Namespace detect showall Anadolu Efes	86–81	FC Barcelona		AX Armani Exchange Milan	CSKA Moscow
2021–22 Details	Template:Country data TURTemplate:Namespace detect showall Anadolu Efes	58–57	Real Madrid		FC Barcelona	Olympiacos
2022–23 Details	Real Madrid	79–78	Olympiacos		Template:Country data MONTemplate:Namespace detect showall Monaco	FC Barcelona

See also

Men's competitions

• EuroLeague
• EuroCup Basketball
• Basketball Champions League
• FIBA Europe Cup

Women's competitions

• EuroLeague Women
• EuroCup Women
• SuperCup Women

External links

• Official website
• List of Winners with Rosters
• EuroLeague's Youtube channel