NEUCHATEL/MIES (Switzerland) – The International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) and FIBA have published the eleventh edition of the International Basketball Migration Report 2022, along with the second edition of the Evolution Report which covers seasons from 2016-17 to 2021-22.

This significant milestone for FIBA and CIES, with this year's migration and evolution reports, continues to emphasize the global nature of basketball, a sport played by millions of players worldwide, supported by FIBA's 212 National Federation members.

The International Basketball Migration Report 2022 provides insight into the global migration of players for the 2021-22 season. FIBA's knowledge and data on international transfers have been combined with the CIES Sports Observatory's renowned expertise in analysis to document the international migration of players for this season, as well as migratory trends and tendencies of the sport across the globe.

The second edition of the Evolution Report represents an extension of the highly-productive fusion of FIBA's data and insight into international transfers and the well-known analytical abilities of the CIES Observatory and is now also able to shine a light on the 19 principal international leagues across the entire six-year window since the project originally tipped off (2016-17 to 2021-22). 

The 2021-22 season saw a new record in transfers, with 10,000 documented throughout the season, involving 8,133 players. This clearly illustrates that the globalization of basketball is more important than ever, with the impact seen last season from COVID-19 now reverting to more of a pre-pandemic theme.

Some of the main highlights from this year's findings and the evolution report include:

A record of international transfers of players
There were more than 10,000 international transfers during the 2021-22 season - the first time this number has been reached in the history of the IBMR. Numbers for both men and women have witnessed a significant increase.

A cross-border league called the BNXT League was created between Belgium and the Netherlands next to their respective domestic leagues, in cooperation with the respective National Federations.

A bigger impact from foreign players
The number of foreign players remained high. Spain, Germany, Israel, France and Italy continue to be the leagues with more foreigners than nationals in their league. Spain remains the league with the highest percentage of foreign players and the highest number of nationalities. However, the average minutes per game of these players was the lowest. In 13 out of 16 leagues, clubs relied heavily on foreign players, with playing time of an average of 20 minutes or more.

Domestic leagues during the last 6 years
With the exception of the 2019-20 season, the data remained largely consistent for each league in respect of the number of games played, the average player age and average player height. There has been a constant growth in the total number of points scored in the leagues combined. The reasons are considered to be the pace of the game becoming even more intense, along with more offensive styles of play.

Click here to view the reports. 

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About FIBA
FIBA (fiba.basketball) - the world governing body for basketball, is an independent association formed by 212 National Basketball Federations throughout the world. It is recognized as the sole competent authority in basketball by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

For further information about FIBA, visit fiba.basketball or follow FIBA on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

About CIES - The International Centre for Sports Studies
Creating an impact on the way sport is managed worldwide. The International Centre for Sport Studies (CIES) is an independent study centre located in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. It was created as a foundation in 1995 by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the University of Neuchâtel and the City and State of Neuchatel.

Using a multi-disciplinary approach (law, sociology, geography, history and management), CIES provides research, top-level education and consulting services to the world of sport. For further information visit cies.ch.