<p>Few sports can move beyond a country’s borders and take on a truly global audience. Soccer, basketball, cricket, hockey, and tennis are among those few, attracting viewers and potential players from nearly every place on the planet.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Despite the massive audiences each sport draws in weekly, it would be easy enough to think that there is little opportunity for crossover across different sports, yet basketball’s <a href="https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">EuroLeague</a> dismisses such a suggestion.</p>



<p>The equivalent to soccer’s Champions League, the EuroLeague has pitted the best teams from across the continent against one another for over sixty-five years. Several of the dominant sides in the league represent the most popular soccer clubs in Europe due to the usage of a multi-sport model. Each season, eighteen teams participate, ten of which use a multi-sport model in which they have an elite-level soccer team. </p>



<h2>Soccer clubs dominating European basketball</h2>



<p>With the EuroLeague remaining the elite competition in European basketball, here are the soccer teams that have a basketball counterpart dominating the competition.</p>



<p><strong>Honorable mentions – Bayern Munich, Monaco. Maccabi Tel Aviv &amp; Fenerbahçe:</strong></p>



<p>Despite both <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/teams/bayern-munich-tv-schedule/">Bayern Munich</a> and Monaco failing to replicate their soccer successes on the basketball court, both have made efforts to leave their mark on the sport. Neither side as of the time of writing has reached a EuroLeague final, but both currently find themselves in the top ten positions of the competition. Monaco in particular has shown signs of improvement in recent years, finishing third in the league stage of last season, as well as finishing third overall in the previous season.&nbsp;</p>



<p>In the case of Fenerbahçe, the Turkish team reached three consecutive finals starting in the 2015-2016 season, with the side picking up their first EuroLeague trophy amidst this three-season run. Finally, Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv has collected over one hundred major honors in their history including fifty-seven Israeli League titles. Their performances in Europe have seen Maccabi Tel Aviv claim the fourth most EuroLeague championships of any side with six.</p>



<h2><strong>Real Madrid – EuroLeague titles: 11</strong></h2>



<p>Embodying the <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/teams/real-madrid-tv-schedule/">Real Madrid</a> DNA, the greatest team in European soccer history is also the greatest team in European basketball history. With twenty-one EuroLeague final appearances, eleven of which have resulted in victory for Los Blancos, no team has lifted the historic trophy as many times as Real.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Famous ex-players for Real include five-time NBA All-Star Luka Dončić, who spent three years with the Spanish giants before being drafted as the 3rd pick in the 2018 NBA draft. His final season in Spain saw him crowned the EuroLeague MVP as he helped Real lift the league title. In the years since both club and player have continued to dominate in their respective fields.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Across the last three seasons, Real has reached the final of the EuroLeague in all three years, a streak they will look to continue this campaign. Meanwhile, Dončić was named the NBA’s Rookie of the Year in 2019, as well as scoring the most points in the league across the 23-24 NBA season.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<div class="ck-youtube"><iframe loading="lazy" title="From the archive: Luka Doncic highlights" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3GIKEmQBMSM?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>
</div></figure>



<h2><strong>Panathinaikos – EuroLeague titles: 7</strong></h2>



<p>Whilst the NBA’s ‘Greek Freak’ Giannis Antetokounmpo has continued to tear up the NBA, the EuroLeague has seen Panathinaikos, a team led by his younger brother Kostas have similar levels of success. With twenty-two NBA appearances under his belt, Kostas is now part of the Panathinaikos side that went on to lift their seventh EuroLeague last season.</p>



<p>Battling off fierce competition, the Greek side would finish 2nd in last season’s regular season stage, before beating Maccabi Tel Aviv 3-2 in a best-of-five series in the quarter-finals. They would then go onto face and beat Fenerbahce and ultimately Real Madrid, to secure their place as the now defending EuroLeague champions.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Domestically Panathinaikos’ success has been irrefutable. Far and away the best team in Greek League history, the team in green and white have won their domestic league on a record forty occasions. The highlight of Panathinaikos’ domestic success was a staggering run of nine seasons where they were crowned champions stretching from the 02/03 season to the 10/11 campaign.</p>



<h2><strong>Barcelona – EuroLeague titles: 2</strong></h2>



<p>Even if Barcelona has not quite managed to equal the five European titles that their soccer outfit has won, on the basketball court the club has consistently remained one of the best teams in the EuroLeague.</p>



<p>With Jabari Parker, 2019 EuroLeague MVP Jan Veselý and Justin Anderson, Barcelona’s squad features three first-round picks from their respective NBA drafts. Including the rest of the squad, and then you’re looking at a team that has a combined 1,898 NBA appearances, multiple Olympic bronze medals, and one EuroLeague championship.&nbsp;</p>



<p>So, despite being without a EuroLeague championship since the 09/10 season, the Catalan side has shown huge promise of late, reaching the top four three times since the 20/21 campaign. As of the end of October, Barcelona stands as the league leader, winning five of their opening six games, only losing in their opening game against Lithuanian side Žalgiris Kaunas.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<div class="ck-youtube"><iframe loading="lazy" title="UNSTOPPABLE from ALL ANGLES | Pure PUNTER Magic HIGHLIGHTS | Barcelona - Efes" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/btX0EDOXNAM?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>
</div></figure>



<h2><strong>Olympiacos – EuroLeague titles: 3</strong></h2>



<p>On the soccer pitch, Olympiacos are the reigning European Conference League champions. On the court, the team’s three EuroLeague titles place them as one of the most successful in the competition’s history.</p>



<p>Though the Greek side has been without a EuroLeague championship for over a decade, they have remained one of the best teams in the competition in the years since their last title. Across the last ten years, Olympiacos have finished in the top four places on five occasions, only losing the 22/23 final by a single point to Real Madrid. Aided by the arrival of former NBA shooting guard Evan Fournier in September, Olympiacos will look to go one step further this season and win the EuroLeague championship once again.&nbsp;</p>



<p><em>For viewers in the United States wanting to watch their soccer clubs in European basketball games, the EuroLeague is available on ESPN3.</em></p>



<p><em>Photo: IMAGO / Scanpix</em></p>

EuroLeague? The soccer clubs dominating European basketball

Soccer clubs and European basketball mix in an unusual way in the EuroLeague. We take a look at the most successful soccer clubs in bball.

destacadas


<p>The recent talk about the creation of a <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/european-super-league-set-to-attempt-relaunch-in-2024-20221019-WST-404971.html">European Super League</a> in soccer mirrors European basketball over the last two decades. </p>



<p>Real Madrid, <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/joan-laporta-wants-super-league-to-replace-champions-league-20221009-WST-403533.html">Barcelona</a>, Juventus and other clubs continue to pioneer the plan for the competition. In that case, European soccer could very easily wind up with the same look as basketball in Europe. It is not entirely a pretty picture.</p>



<p>Here is a look at basketball’s structure in Europe with a brief history of how we got to this point:</p>



<h5>Today’s European basketball structure</h5>



<p>Currently, there are four continental competitions for basketball in Europe.</p>



<ul><li>EuroLeague (18 teams)</li><li>EuroCup (20 teams)</li><li>Champions League (52 teams)</li><li>Europe Cup (47 teams)</li></ul>



<p>The first two competitions, EuroLeague &amp; EuroCup are controlled by EuroLeague Basketball. Meanwhile, FIBA Europe controls the other two. There are, of course, national leagues, domestic cup competitions and regional leagues, too. </p>



<p>But, for the purposes of comparing how a future structure of European soccer may look, let’s concentrate on the four continental competitions.</p>



<h5>How did we get here</h5>



<p>The top of the basketball pyramid is FIBA. It is the equivalent of FIFA in soccer. FIBA EUROPE is the arm of FIBA that regulates the game in Europe. Think UEFA overseeing European soccer as a connection to FIFA. FIBA originally established the FIBA European Champions Cup in 1958. In 1996, this competition took on the name EuroLeague in 1996. </p>



<p>After the 1999-2000 season, nine clubs broke away from FIBA to create a new league. To add insult to injury for FIBA, they never trademarked the name EuroLeague. The breakaway league quickly adopted this name. </p>



<p>The reason for the breakaway is exactly that which we are witnessing today in European soccer. Select teams brought in more money, and they wanted assurances that they could be in a top, money-making competition without relying on qualifying through league position. Two of those members align with the <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/uefa-and-fifa-cant-block-european-super-league-court-rules-20230131-WST-417717.html">European Super League</a> in soccer, Real Madrid and Barcelona.</p>



<p>What followed for the next 2 decades was threats, sanctions and a division of basketball that left fans confused, angry &amp; many never returning to the arenas they once occupied.</p>



<h5>EuroLeague Today</h5>



<p>Today’s EuroLeague operates under the ULEB umbrella, originally formed in 1991 by French, Italian &amp; Spanish clubs. It is very similar to the European Club Association. Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli was the President of the ECA, and he was a leading proponent of the European Super League. </p>



<p>The EuroLeague has 18 teams, 12 of which have long term licenses. The other six work under one- and two-year licenses. It’s become a complicated semi-closed league structure today. It even introduced a promotion/relegation system. </p>



<p>In 2002, ‘EuroLeague Basketball’ created a new competition called the ULEB Cup, now known as the EuroCup. The top 2 teams each season in the EuroCup are given one-year licenses to compete in the EuroLeague, thus creating a promotion/relegation system. </p>



<p>As for FIBA, they operate 2 European competitions which have now been named ‘Champions League’ and ‘Europe Cup.’</p>



<p>The two FIBA competitions are well below in quality to the two ULEB competitions, attracting only lower-tiered clubs. International dates for national competitions come into dispute as well. The European competitions alongside national championships &amp; domestic cup competitions make for crowded calendars.</p>



<h2>Is European soccer following its basketball counterpart?</h2>



<p>Understanding what has transpired in basketball in Europe creates a lot of clarity to the battle going on right now in European soccer. ‘FIBA Europe’ got relegated to second-class citizenship compared to Euroleague Basketball when it comes to club play. </p>



<p>Certainly, UEFA would face the same fate in soccer. At best, UEFA’s top competition would be at the level of today’s Europa Conference League in the event of a <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/european-super-league-is-here-its-called-the-premier-league-20230202-WST-418025.html">Super League</a>. At first, they would have a good selection of clubs to still choose from, if say, 18 clubs broke away. </p>



<p>As we see in basketball, it’s not just a club competition that gets created. Rather, it is a new type of ‘federation.’ There is a simple promise of promotion to the Super League. Many clubs just outside of the elite group would clamor to start a new competition under the <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/laliga-warns-of-impending-european-super-league-20221104-WST-406842.html">Super League</a> umbrella. That would leave UEFA with a poor selection of clubs for it’s own competitions. More importantly, this new competition would sap all the TV revenue away from UEFA. </p>



<p>Basketball’s schedule is manageable. Teams play 3-4 games per week. Using that structure for soccer, where teams max out at two games per week, is a huge problem. </p>



<h5>The future of soccer</h5>



<p>There are two options if soccer goes down this path of European basketball.</p>



<p>One, UEFA’s new structured Champions League format (starting in 2024-25 season) could be enough to appease the top clubs to stay with UEFA. Option two, is very much what we have seen in European basketball. A creation of de facto two ruling bodies.</p>



<p>The new Champions League format could buy UEFA a few more seasons. However, based on <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/latest-chelsea-transfers-not-at-fault-for-aimless-spending-20230114-WST-415145.html">spending of clubs</a> in the modern era as well as the ownership changes with little regard for tradition, European soccer may be unrecognizable in 10 years by today’s fans.</p>


European basketball could be setting the blueprint for soccer as it continues to go down a path of super leagues.

Is European soccer going the way of European basketball?

Latest news from basketball. Find out about all the news related to basketball on worldsoccertalk.com

ALL POSTS TAGGED "basketball"

News

EuroLeague? The soccer clubs dominating European basketball

European Super League

Is European soccer going the way of European basketball?