FIBA - CIES report paints picture of basketball transfer demographics

NEUCHATEL, Switzerland (FIBA/CIES) - The International Centre for the Study of Sport (CIES), in collaboration with FIBA, on Wednesday published the first-ever International Basketball Migration Report, providing an insight into the migratory trends of the sport.

Compiling a wide variety of transfer data, the report includes the 6,392 international transfers completed over the course of 2011. Combined with more extensive data (player age, player height, average time spent on court and time with their club) from 12 major professional leagues from around the world, this 64-page document sheds light on the latest transfer trends and highlights the impact of regulations and quotas on foreign-based players.

Emerging patterns include that the USA is by far biggest exporter of players, ahead of France and Serbia, while Spain imports the highest proportion of its top division players.

The oldest league in terms of player-age among the 12 considered was Italy's Serie A where players were on average 28.2 years old, in stark contrast with China's CBA where the age is more than three year younger (25.1). The tallest league was Russia's Premier League with and average height of 199.65cm, almost a full five centimetres taller than the average in Argentina's Liga A (194.68cm).

Correlating the data also gives an insight into what leagues types of players are recruited by what leagues. As an example, foreigners recruited in Argentina's Liga A, the shortest of those tend to be selected with height in mind (200cm) as they average almost six centimetres more than the league’s native players.

The report was presented at a press conference in Neuchatel, Switzerland, which also served to unveil the new CIES Observatory, whose mission is to provide information and expertise to a variety of sports stakeholders. The CIES was recently named best European postgraduate sports course provider for its renowned “FIFA Master”.

Upon the publication of the report, FIBA Secretary General and IOC member Patrick Baumann said: "This research has provided us with a better understanding about how players move between countries and leagues. It reveals to what extend basketball is a global game, while such insights are also invaluable to us in our mission of developing and promoting the game of basketball.

"I wish to thank and congratulate the CIES for setting up this Observatory, which will help numerous organisations gain a better insight into their own sport. I of course look forward to future reports and seeing how the trends of our sport evolve and change."

Click here to download the full CIES report (.pdf).

FIBA