By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Domestic Leagues are about to start, and with NBA Europe preparing for their 2027 tip-off, this is going to be a very interesting season.
First and foremost, FIBA will unveil its own European domestic Leagues ranking, which will play a role in the selection of the teams that will compete in the end of the season tournament for two spots in the new league.
In Italy especially, NBA interest has led to two teams relocating to Rome, with Luka Doncic and Francesco Totti (photo) involved. That’s one of the main factors in Italy’s rise.
On the flip side, Monaco’s demise has hit the French basketball league hard, which has fallen from grace, losing two spots compared to two years ago.
Meanwhile, the Greek league continues to rise on every level, and the Turkish BSL might be bound to lose the second spot in the standings if the dynamics don’t change next season.
In general, the European domestic leagues have de facto inequalities between participating clubs, which in some cases are huge, and big European media markets don’t necessarily translate to big interest. On the contrary, the biggest media market, the UK, where the domestic league (SBL) operates after a FIBA intervention in the local federation, remains far from getting real consideration for the Top 10.
So that’s the 2026-27 Eurohoops ranking, the explanation of the picks, and last season’s picks for comparison.
OVERALL RANKING
- ACB Liga Endesa – Spain (-)
- Türkiye Sigorta Basketbol Süper Ligi – Turkey (-)
- Stoiximan GBL HEBA – Greece (-)
- Lega Basket Serie A– Italy (+2)
- Betclic ELITE ProA – France (-1)
- AdmiralBet ABA League (-1)
- easyCredit BBL – Germany (-)
- Betsson LKL – Lithuania (+1)
- Winner’s League – Israel (-1)
- Orlen Basket Liga – Poland (-)
1. ACB Liga Endesa – Spain
Spain remains on top of the league standings and has the advantage on every level compared to every other domestic league, or even regional ones. The only issue that Spain will have to face in the near future is that, compared to the money discussed at this point for continental leagues in Europe, the league, in theory at least, should be able to provide much more revenue to its clubs.
2. Türkiye Sigorta Basketbol Süper Ligi – Turkey
The BSL has three EuroLeague teams this season, and closed the previous one with a great finals series between Fenerbahce and Besiktas that didn’t include any off-court incidents, and that’s an issue in European basketball. Plus, the league has several ambitious teams which are expected to make a splash both in the EuroCup and the Basketball Champions League. Like in Spain, yes, the Turkish League management should be more proactive in securing revenues, but everything else seems to work just fine despite the recent Turkish economic woes.
3. Stoiximan GBL HEBA – Greece
The Greek league remains third in the ranking, but it’s almost equal to the BSL. Financially wise you can make a case for Greece being the most successful domestic league at the managerial level, with a new television contract that will bring 21M euros for the next three seasons, and every one of the 14 participating clubs getting at least around 700.000 euros per season directly from the league. This number is much bigger than the average revenues that the EuroCup and BCL bring to their participants.
Aris and PAOK are aiming for the EuroLeague; AEK has an NBA Europe bid in place; Olympiacos is the EuroLeague champion, and Panathinaikos is arguably the club with the most revenues in Europe. So why are they under Spain and Turkey? The first issue is the size of the three markets, with Greece being significantly smaller, and the second is the off-court incidents, which, despite some improvement compared to the 2024-25 finals, remain a huge and almost unsolvable problem.
4. Lega Basket Serie A– Italy
At some point between the late 80s and the early 90s, Italy was the league to be in Europe. And after many twists and turns, they seem to be back. Add Milan and Virtus Bologna, two new, exciting projects in Rome, and suddenly Italy is trending again. Of course, having long-time sports executive Maurizio Gherardini running the show as league president helps; however, the point remains that Italian basketball is becoming more and more mainstream again, and that’s the main issue that must be solved in most European countries.
5. Betclic ELITE ProA – France
Speaking only about the on-court product, there’s no league in Europe with better parity and more raw talent, especially considering athletic abilities. Plus, Tony Parker is making his coaching debut, and this will turn heads all over the basketball world. BUT… when your reigning champion is relegated to the third division due to financial woes, as happened with Monaco, and when, money-wise, outside the duo of ASVEL and Paris, the clubs have to make ends meet with limited resources, you can’t really have a mainstream league for the general public. France is blessed with Victor Wembanyama; however, this is also a curse for the domestic league since, for most fans, basketball remains synonymous with the NBA.
6. AdmiralBet ABA League
The league, which until recently included countries from the former Yugoslavia, has expanded to include Dubai BC, which won the championship title last season; U-BT Cluj-Napoca from Romania in their second season; Slovan Bratislava from Slovakia; and BC Vienna from Austria. That’s a sign of progress, as is the fact that Ibrahim Erkan was selected as the candidate for the position of the new Sporting Director, and he is expected to leave the EuroLeague and his similar position to move to the Adriatic.
Still, the league remains a mixed bag on every level, especially on the financial level, and despite having three EuroLeague participants in Dubai, Crvena Zvezda, and Partizan, it’s not enough to elevate the rest. Also, the fact that local talent is being drained at a very early age, ending up almost everywhere in the world for financial incentives deducts from the league’s value.
7. easyCredit BBL – Germany
Stagnation is still the only word that can describe the BBL. Despite Germany being a big market, despite producing talented players, and despite having a national team which is currently both European and world champions, the domestic league has only local interest and remains an afterthought for the general public. Yes, the rules are respected, payments are always on time, and local communities love their clubs, but clearly that’s far from enough.
8. Betsson LKL – Lithuania
This year, LKL is ranked above the Israeli league, and the main reason for that is that somehow the success of BC Rytas, which won the Basketball Champions League and aims for NBA Europe through qualification, must be rewarded. Still, this is essentially a one-team league, with Zalgiris having a huge advantage over the competition.
9. Winner’s League – Israel
The ongoing situation in Israel and the conflict in Gaza must be reflected in the local league, where it seems that the main interest is just to have games on home soil more than anything else. Of course, it has to be noted that Maccabi Tel Aviv, Hapoel Tel Aviv, and Hapoel Jerusalem are among the top European clubs, and if, hopefully, all this madness comes to an end, Israel might end up tackling Germany, something that seemed impossible a few years ago.
10. Orlen Basket Liga – Poland
Essentially, Poland is beating the BNXT League, which includes teams from the Netherlands and Belgium. Still, despite the recent successes of the national team and hosting a group phase of Eurobasket 2025, the local league has not yet made any significant progress, nor have Polish clubs produced any really noteworthy results in European competitions. Simply put, if sports sanctions are lifted for Russia next season, the VTB League will not have any issue entering the Top10 – even the Top5 – and pushing Poland out.
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