Austrian Basketball Superliga

The Austrian Basketball Superliga (English: Basketball Super League) is the highest tier basketball league in Austria. Established in 2019, it replaced the Austrian Basketball Bundesliga (ABL) as the first level competition in the country. The winners of the Superliga are crowned Austrian champions. The competition aimed to start "a new era" in Austrian basketball.[1] In its inaugural season, the competition consisted of ten teams.

Austrian Basketball Superliga
Organising bodyBasketball Austria
Founded2019; 5 years ago (2019)
First season2019–20
CountryAustria
ConfederationFIBA Europe
Number of teams10
Level on pyramid1
Relegation toBasketball Zweite Liga
Domestic cup(s)Austrian Cup
SupercupAustrian Supercup
International cup(s)Basketball Champions League
FIBA Europe Cup
Current championsSwans Gmunden
(2nd league title; 6th Austrian title)
(2022–23)
Most championshipsSwans Gmunden
(2 titles)
TV partnersSky Sport
ORF
2023–24 Austrian Basketball Superliga

History

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The Basketball Superliga was established in the summer of 2019 to replace the Austrian Bundsliga. Television contracts were signed with Sky Sport and ORF.[2] All games will also be streamed online. On 9 August 2019, the ten teams that would compete in the inaugural season were announced, with nine teams coming from last ÖBL season.[3]

The new league's first season was ended prematurely because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[4]

On 16 May 2021, Swans Gmunden won the first Superliga championship.[5]

Format

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In the Superliga, teams first play each other in the regular season home and away. After this the teams ranked 1–6 and 7-10 are divided in two groups to qualify for the playoffs. In the playoffs, the best eight teams play each other for the national championship in best-of-five series. The two lowest placed teams play against the top two teams of the Basketball Zweite Liga (B2L).[1]

Clubs

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Club Place Arena Capacity
Allianz Swans Gmunden Gmunden Volksbank Arena 2,200
Kraftwerk Wels Wels Raiffeisen Arena 1,700
Raiffeisen Panthers Fürstenfeld Fürstenfeld Stadthalle Fürstenfeld 1,200
Arkadia Traiskirchen Lions Traiskirchen Lions Dome 1,200
Kapfenberg Bulls Kapfenberg Sporthalle Walfersam 1,000
Zepter Vienna Wien Admiral Dome 1,500
redwell Gunners Oberwart Oberwart Sporthalle Oberwart 1,700
Xion Dukes Klosterneuburg Klosterneuburg Happyland Klosterneuburg 1,000
Raiffeisen Graz Graz Raiffeisen Sportpark Graz 3,000
SKN St. Pölten Sankt Pölten Landessportzentrum 1,000

Champions

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Season Champions Runners-up Score
2020–21 Swans Gmunden Kapfenberg Bulls
3–1
2021–22 BC Vienna Swans Gmunden
3–1
2022–23 Swans Gmunden BC Vienna
3–1

References

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  1. ^ a b "Startschuss für die ADMIRAL Basketball Superliga - mit ADMIRAL Sportwetten als Hauptsponsor". OTS.at. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  2. ^ "Basketball-Superliga: Sky überträgt bis zu 48 Spiele, auch ORF an Bord - derStandard.at". DER STANDARD. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  3. ^ "Keine Lizenz für die Fürstenfeld Panthers". Sky Sport Austria. 6 August 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  4. ^ "Presstige Details ALLE". Basketball Austria. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  5. ^ Berger, Helmut. "Presstige Details BSL". Basketball Austria (in Austrian German). Retrieved 12 July 2021.
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