Competition System

The Basketball Champions League 2016-17 season will involve 52 teams, including national champions, from 31 countries.

More than 350 games will be played over the course of eight months of competition in this first season of the Basketball Champions League.

Games will be played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in order to protect national leagues’ schedules.

Forty (40) teams will play in the Regular Season of the Basketball Champions League. Thirty-two (32) of those teams will be given a direct Regular Season spot based on sporting criteria.

Qualification Rounds

The competition will start on 27 September 2016.

Eight (8) teams will qualify for the Regular Season from the Qualification Rounds. 

The 20 teams involved will face each other in two elimination rounds played in a home-and-away format. 

The 12 non-qualified teams will then participate in the FIBA Europe Cup.

Regular Season

The Regular Season will tip off on 18 October 2016 and conclude in February 2017.

The 40 teams competing in the Regular Season will be divided into five (5) groups of eight (8) teams. Each team in the group will play all others home and away.

Play-offs Elimination Round

Twenty-four (24) teams advance to the Play-offs. These will be the top four (4) teams from each group and the four (4) best ranked fifth-placed teams.

The five (5) group winners and three (3) best-ranked second-placed teams advance directly to Play-offs Round 2.

The remaining 16 teams will face each other in 8 pairings in a home-and-awaty format, with the winners advancing to Playoffs- Round 2.

The next eight placed teams following the qualification of the top 24 teams to the Play-offs will continue into the FIBA Europe Cup.

Play-offs

Sixteen (16) teams match up in home and away series in two elimination rounds.

Final Four

The Final Four will take place from 28-30 April.