The Pro Basketball League (PBL),[1] was the highest tier level professional basketball league in Belgium for clubs. In 2021, the league was succeeded by the Belgian-Dutch BNXT League.[2]
The league is organized by the Basketball League Belgium. The current president of the league is Maarten Bostyn.[3]
The most successful team in the league is Oostende, which holds the record for the most league titles won, with 22, and the now defunct team of Racing Mechelen is second, with 15.
History
On 15 March 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic the season was prematurely cancelled. Based on the standings in the regular season, Filou Oostende was crowned national champions.[4]
The BLB is played by the international FIBArules. Since 2014–15 the BLB season has a new format. In the regular season, all teams play each other first home and away. After that first round the league is divided in two groups based on standings; in the first group teams ranked 1–6 play and in the second 7–11. After the split each team plays all others in its group once home and once away. After that the Playoffs are played by eight teams. The quarterfinals consist of best-of-three series and the semi- and finals are played in a best-of-five format.
Licensing
Teams that play in the BLB all have to get a license to play in the league. There are three types of licenses:[6][7]
A-license: for teams who have more than a € 1 million budget. A-licensed team can qualify for European competitions.
B-license: teams with at least a €750,000 budget. B-licensed teams can't qualify for European play.
C-licence: given to teams that are on the rise, with a budget of at least €400,000. C-licenses do not allow teams to qualify for European play and have to get replaced by B-licenses after two years.
Since 2005, play-offs are played to decide which team is crowned the champion of each season. The finals series are played in a best-of-five format, with the team which had the higher seed in the regular season having home court advantage.
Not all awards are official ones handed out by the league itself, but all are regarded and respected as BLB awards. As example the Belgian Player of the Year award is handed out by the Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad, but the league itself reports the winner on its website.
