Basketball is the second most popular participatory sport in the UK (after football). The professional spectator variety, though not so well patronised, is still able to host a main men’s league of nine clubs, from London to Glasgow. But it is currently the subject of a power struggle between the clubs and the ruling body.
Super League Basketball (SLB) is in dispute with the British Basketball Federation (BBF), which wants a different set-up to run the men’s professional league from 2026–7. The BBF refused to cooperate with SLB clubs wishing to sign an overseas player who needed a visa. This escalated to SLB giving notice of taking legal action, saying that ‘the SLB continues to have serious concerns about the legality and transparency of the BBF’s approach, which we believe undermines both the integrity of the sport and the interests of players, fans, and communities across the country.’
At present there is no promotion/relegation between SLB and the next tier down, Basketball England, as the franchise system is in use, supposedly to provide financial security and protect investment. This applies to both the men’s and women’s game.
The BBF want GBB League Ltd to run the men’s league for fifteen years from 2026. But this leaves clubs in limbo until then, and Sheffield Sharks, for instance, have put on hold their idea of playing in a European competition, while the BBF has refused to support applications for European places made by four other clubs.
GBBL is run by a group of American investors, and they plan to move games from traditional venues to larger arenas, with far fewer games televised. They would also increase the number of teams in the league. BBF have said, regarding GBBL: ‘The whole of British basketball will benefit from their world-class capacities as evidenced through their extensive achievements in sports business and beyond.’
In what is presumably a separate development, the BBF is discussing with national federations the idea of a second-tier British basketball league, with mainly English clubs but also some from Scotland and Wales.
This is all primarily about money and power, of course, and invokes memories of the foundation of football’s Premier League in 1992, when clubs broke away from the Football League to join a new competition run by the Football Association. Whether it will develop in the same way remains to be seen.
Paul Bennett
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