By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
The annual ranking of the European Domestic Leagues is here, and finally, there are some serious changes in the lineup compared to last year. Compared to the initial rankings back in 2012, things have totally changed, with the Balkans dominating again, having a total of three of the five top spots in the ranking.
The initial main criteria were competitiveness among the participating teams, margin of upsets, budgets, roster quality, and prospects of growth.
However, with all numbers around basketball looking up, a key aspect from now on, and it was central to the decisions made about this ranking, should also be the television rights contract for each league. This is, of course, not public information in most cases; however, it’s obvious that while in theory Western European markets are bigger, the money spent in smaller but vital markets for basketball is much more.
Greece is the pinnacle of this example, and despite having just a 13-team league, it has jumped ahead of the competition in the financial aspect of the league. The same can be said about the ABA League, which, including Dubai, has three EuroLeague clubs, and the only objection about the status of the league is whether it should be considered domestic at this point, and nothing else.
So here’s the 2025-26 ranking and the explanation about the changes.
OVERALL RANKING
- ACB Liga Endesa – Spain (-)
- Türkiye Sigorta Basketbol Süper Ligi – Turkey (-)
- Stoiximan GBL HEBA – Greece (+3)
- Betclic ELITE ProA – France (-1)
- AdmiralBet ABA League (+2)
- Lega Basket Serie A– Italy (-2)
- easyCredit BBL – Germany (-2)
- Winner’s League – Israel (-)
- Betsson LKL – Lithuania (-)
- Orlen Basket Liga – Poland (-)
1. ACB Liga Endesa
As every year, little explanation is needed for why Spain remains the top league in Europe, and this is unlikely to change unless something truly drastic happens. One of the biggest European markets, top teams, great fans, and the only question mark is whether the league can make more money than it used to. The new three-year broadcasting deal with DAZN may be a step towards the right direction, but no financial details have been announced yet, and DAZN doesn’t exactly break the bank for TV rights on other leagues (more on that at no.4).
2. Türkiye Sigorta Basketbol Süper Ligi
While there are some hickups here and there (like Karsiyaka last year), Turkey remains also a very big market, and despite the bad economic shape of the country, so far that doesn’t seem to affect basketball spending. Spearheaded by defending EuroLeague champions Fenerbahce, Anadolu Efes, BCL Finalist Galatasaray, Besiktas, Turk Telekom, and Bahcesehir, Turkish clubs have high ambitions and are contenders in their continental competitions.
3. Stoiximan GBL HEBA
After the biggest financial crisis in Europe that created issues for more than a decade, Greece, at least basketball-wise, is back for good. And that’s a paradox and something that should make all the other – bigger – countries step up their game. It’s not only the fact that in a 13-team league, nine of the clubs are competing in Europe and are considered contenders on a continental level. It’s not only about Panathinaikos and Olympiacos. The financial numbers are way above what other domestic leagues have on the table. The league is currently in the second year of a 20M euros three-year contract with the Greek national television (which was announced after last year’s rankings). On top of that, the league has secured annual sponsorships of 7,5M euros, bringing the total of annual revenues around 15M euros.
To put things simply, each of the 13 clubs gets at least 700.000 euros directly from the league, since there are bonuses tied to the standings and currently there’s no other domestic league providing this kind of incentives. Basketball is on the rise again with the sale of historic club Aris BC to Richard Hsiao and RHC Group, with the blessing of Giannis Antetokounmpo (hugging new GM Nikos Zisis in the photo), making headlines.
4. Betclic ELITE ProA
France remains in the Top 5, having three EuroLeague clubs (Monaco, Paris, ASVEL), a very dynamic presence in European competitions, and tons of domestic talents that feed even the NBA.
However, after the new television contract with DAZN, which provided the league with stability until 2029, the management must work hard to maintain regular mainstream interest, which in France is largely dominated by Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs, and generate more revenue. While official numbers for the DAZN deal have not been announced, according to Eurohoops sources, the price for the French ProA TV rights is just 1.5 million euros annually.
5. AdmiralBet ABA League
Even though the 18-team league remains a mixed bag and there are big differences between clubs, there are currently three EuroLeague teams competing for the title (Crvena Zvezda, Dubai BC, Partizan), a talent factory like Mega Superbet, and the most interesting detail about the rise of the league and the current season is the addition of U-BT Cluj-Napoca. While Dubai BC simply doesn’t have a domestic league to play in and its management has strong ties with Serbia, making the move seem natural, Cluj-Napoca, which has already been successful in BCL and EuroCup, decided that it would be better for them to leave the lower-level Romanian league and join the ABA. That’s a true testament of progress.
6. Lega Basket Serie A
The rise of Greece and ABA pushed the Italians out of the Top-5, and this makes things interesting for next year with Maurizio Gherardini, former Treviso, Toronto, and Fenerbahce GM, taking over the league management.
Lega Basket is making progress basketball-wise, but the mediocre results of its clubs at the European level were also taken into account. Still, you can argue that compared to France and Germany, the Italian basketball league is more mainstream, and the interest in local basketball is higher on a national level.
7. easyCredit BBL
Now it sounds crazy, but in the initial rankings of 2012, Germany got the No. 2 spot as a domestic league, mainly because of the potential that the German market has and the off-court level of the clubs, as organizations. Those two factors are still there, but more than a decade later, the potential remains unfulfilled, and there’s no sign that this can change anytime soon. Germany, in the meantime, became FIBA World Champion and Eurobasket champion; however, this doesn’t translate into any solid interest for the domestic league, with Bayern Munich being the main source of buzz about club basketball in the country. There’s progress, but other countries are simply doing better.
8. Winner’s League
Due to the ongoing conflict in Gaza, remaining in the 8th position might seem generous, as it was also written last year. However, there are no international sanctions – at least yet – for Israel, like in the case of Russia, and for the first time in its history, the Winner’s League has two EuroLeague teams, Maccabi and Hapoel Tel Aviv. Add a EuroCup contender in Hapoel Jerusalem and it’s hard to argue with this spot.
9. Betsson LKL
Basketball is a religion in Lithuania, but the size of the country’s market has inherent limitations.
10. Orlen Basket Liga
With the Russian VTB out of the fold, since it remains a closed system with no connection to continental competition, Poland is keeping the last spot of the Top 10, just by being better than the rest, which don’t really provide a lot of competition.