Euroleague

The EuroLeague, commercially known as the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, is the top-tier European professional men's basketball club competition. It is organized by Euroleague Basketball, a private company owned by the participating clubs and other basketball stakeholders. The league gathers Europe’s leading clubs to compete for the continent’s premier title.

Format: The competition typically features 16–18 teams that play a regular-season round-robin schedule, with home-and-away games. The top eight teams advance to the playoffs, which are conducted as best-of-five series. The four winning teams reach the Final Four, a single-site event that includes two semifinal games, a final, and often a third-place game to determine the overall ranking.

History: The competition evolved from the old FIBA European Champions Cup and was reorganized in the early 2000s into the EuroLeague under Euroleague Basketball. Since then it has been widely regarded as the continent’s premier club competition, with growing international broadcast and sponsorship.

Participation and teams: Clubs from across Europe participate, including long‑standing powerhouses such as Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Olympiacos Piraeus, Panathinaikos, CSKA Moscow, Anadolu Efes, Maccabi Tel Aviv, and Fenerbahçe. The league also features rising teams from emerging markets, further broadening its geographic reach.

Impact: The EuroLeague serves as a platform for elite players and coaches and contributes to the development of European club basketball. Its champions are recognized as European club champions, and the competition maintains a global audience through broadcast partnerships and digital media.