The BNXT League is a professional basketball league in Belgium and the Netherlands. The league is the first tier in both the Dutch and Belgian system, replacing the DBL and PBL. The inaugural season was the 2021–22 season, which started in September 2021.
 | |
| Organising body | Dutch Basketball League Pro Basketball League |
|---|---|
| Founded | December 10, 2020 |
| First season | 2021–22 |
| Country |  Belgium Netherlands |
| Confederation |  FIBA Europe |
| Number of teams | 19 |
| Level on pyramid | 1 |
| Domestic cup(s) | Basketball Cup (Netherlands) Basketball Cup (Belgium) |
| Supercup | BNXT Supercup Dutch Supercup |
| International cup(s) | Champions League FIBA Europe Cup |
| Current champions | Filou Oostende (1st title) |
| Most championships | ZZ Leiden (2 titles) |
| CEO | Wim Van de Keere |
| President | Ramses Braakman |
| TV partners | bnxt |
| Website | bnxtleague |
 2024–25 BNXT League | |
History
editOn 10 December 2020, it was announced that the Belgian Pro Basketball League and Dutch Basketball League would merge to form a new multinational league.[1] All clubs from the Dutch DBL voted for, while 9 of 10 teams in Belgium voted in favor of the decision. Serious talks about the initiative had been ongoing since fall 2019.[2] On 20 May 2021, the new name "BNXT League" and logo of the league were announced.[3]
The league started its inaugural season amidst an ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and a great number of games had to be played behind locked doors as a result of national lockdowns.[4] On 11 June 2022, ZZ Leiden were crowned the inaugural BNXT champions.[5] The following year, on 13 June 2023, Leiden repeated as champions.
Sponsorship
editOn 10 September 2021, the league announced its first name sponsorship when Belgian betting company betFirst signed to become naming sponsor for three seasons.[6]
Competition formula
editFrom 2021–22 to 2023–24, the league consisted of different stages. In the first stage, teams played each other home and away in the national regular season. After this, the teams were divided in the Elite Gold and Elite Silver group for the cross-border season. Next, the teams from the Elite Gold and the 3 best teams from the Elite Silver played in the national playoffs to compete for the national championships. The two winners of the national playoffs then played in the BNXT League Final.[1]
Starting from the 2024–25 season, the league will have a new format in which all 19 teams play each other home and away in the regular season. The highest ranked teams from each country play national playoffs, and the two national winners play for the BNXT championship.[7]
Teams
editThe following 19 teams will play in the 2024-25 season. All teams from the Pro Basketball League and Dutch Basketball League transferred to the BNXT League in 2021. The newest club to have joined the BNXT League are the Kortrijk Spurs, who joined in 2023.
Stadiums and locations
edit
- Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.
| Club | Location | Venue | Capacity | Founded | National titles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antwerp Giants
|
Antwerp | Lotto Arena | 5,218 | 1995 | 1 |
| BAL |
Weert | Sporthal Boshoven | 1,000 | 2013 | – |
| Brussels Basketball
|
Brussels | Neder-Over-Heembeek complex | 1,200 | 1957 | – |
| Den Helder Suns |
Den Helder | Sporthal Sportlaan | 1,000 | 2016 | – |
| Donar |
Groningen | MartiniPlaza | 4,350 | 1951 | 7 |
| Feyenoord |
Rotterdam | Topsportcentrum Rotterdam | 2,500 | 1954 | – |
| Heroes Den Bosch |
's-Hertogenbosch | Maaspoort | 2,800 | 1952 | 17 |
| Kangoeroes Mechelen
|
Mechelen | Winketkaai | 1,500 | 2009 | – |
| Kortrijk Spurs
|
Kortrijk | Lange Munte | 2,400 | 2019 | – |
| Landstede Hammers |
Zwolle | Landstede Sportcentrum | 1,200 | 1995 | 1 |
| Leuven Bears
|
Leuven | Sportoase | 3,400 | 1999 | – |
| Limburg United
|
Hasselt | Alverberg Sporthal | 1,730 | 2014 | – |
| LWD Basket |
Leeuwarden | Kalverdijkje | 1,700 | 2004 | – |
| Mons-Hainaut
|
Mons | Mons Arena | 4,000 | 1959 | – |
| Okapi Aalst
|
Aalst | Okapi Forum | 2,800 | 1949 | – |
| Oostende
|
Ostend | Sleuyter Arena | 5,000 | 1970 | 24 |
| QSTA United |
Bemmel | De Kooi | 650 | 2020 | – |
| Spirou
|
Charleroi | Spiroudome | 6,200 | 1989 | 10 |
| ZZ Leiden |
Leiden | Sportcomplex 1574 | 2,435 | 1958 | 5 |
Former teams
edit| Club | Location | Venue | Capacity | Founded | Seasons | Last season |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apollo Amsterdam | Amsterdam | Apollohal | 1,500 | 2011 | 2 | 2022–23 |
| Liège Basket | Liège | Country Hall | 5,000 | 1967 | 3 | 2023–24 |
| The Hague Royals | The Hague | Sportcampus Zuiderpark | 3,500 | 2020 | 1 | 2021–22 |
BNXT champions
editThe finals were played in a two-legged format in 2022, after that season the format was changed to a best-of-three playoffs series.
ZZ Leiden have won both BNXT championships thus far.
| Season | Champions | Score | Runners-up | Finals MVP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021–22 | ZZ Leiden | 146–142 (75–72, 71–70) |
Donar | Worthy de Jong |
| 2022–23 | ZZ Leiden (2) | 2–1
|
Oostende | David Collins |
| 2023–24 | Oostende | 164–124 (85–58, 79–66) |
ZZ Leiden | Damien Jefferson |
National champions
editNetherlands
edit| Season | Champions | Score | Runners-up | Finals MVP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021–22 | Heroes Den Bosch | 3–2 | ZZ Leiden | Thomas van der Mars |
| 2022–23 | ZZ Leiden | 3–2 | Donar | Thomas Rutherford |
| 2023–24 | ZZ Leiden | 3–1 | Heroes Den Bosch | Brock Gardner |
Belgium
edit| Season | Champions | Score | Runners-up | Finals MVP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021–22 | Oostende | 3–1 | Kangoeroes Mechelen | Keye van der Vuurst de Vries |
| 2022–23 | Oostende | 3–1 | Antwerp Giants | Vrenz Bleijenbergh |
| 2023–24 | Oostende | 3–1 | Antwerp Giants | Damien Jefferson |
Awards
edit- Most Valuable Player (MVP)
- Finals MVP (BNXT)
- Finals MVP (Belgium)
- Finals MVP (Netherlands)
- Dream Team
- Player of the Year (Netherlands)
- Player of the Year (Belgium)
- Rising Star of the Year (Netherlands)
- Rising Star of the Year (Belgium)
- Sixth Man of the Year
- Defensive Player of the Year
- Coach of the Year (Netherlands)
- Coach of the Year (Belgium)
Broadcasting partners
edit- BNXT.tv (online)
- NPO 1
- Proximus
- Sporza
- Ziggo Sport
Notes
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "The Pro Basketball League and Dutch Basketball League about to launch BeNeLeague as of the 2021–2022 season". Pro Basketball League. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
- ^ "Ook basketbalbonden onderzoeken mogelijkheden BeNeLeague". AD (in Dutch). 23 December 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
- ^ "BeNeLiga in het basketbal wordt de BNXT League: toekomst, de 'Generation Z' en groei". HLN.be. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
- ^ "Basketbalclubs BNXT League beslissen drie weken lang zelf of thuisduels doorgaan". nos.nl (in Dutch). 15 November 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
- ^ "ZZ Leiden first BNXT League champion". BNXT League. 2022-06-11. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
- ^ "BETFIRST NEW TITLE SPONSOR BNXT LEAGUE". BNXT League. 10 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
- ^ "BNXT League krijgt volgend seizoen nieuw format: vanaf de start heen- en terugwedstrijden". Het Nieuwsblad (in Flemish). 2024-03-11. Retrieved 2024-03-27.