Deal to run GB men's league a 'defining moment'

The British Basketball Federation says it has agreed a 15-year deal with a group to run the men's professional league from the start of the 2026-27 season.

It described the agreement with GBB League Ltd (GBBL) as a "defining moment" for the sport, and said the new body would provide £15m funding in the first two years.

However, the current operator Super League Basketball (SLB) said the new competition will have "no clubs, fans, arenas or expertise".

It said the tender process run by the governing body was "illegal and unjust", and that the SLB is "united" with the nine clubs to continue running the game.

The SLB said "it does not legally require the BBF licence to continue to operate the professional basketball league in Britain".

Premier Basketball Limited, which runs the SLB, was awarded an interim three-year licence last July to replace the British Basketball League, which collapsed amid financial concerns.

In January the SLB said it was prepared to break away from the BBF after claiming it had been shut out from discussions over the future of the men's game.

It said it had withdrawn from the tender process after "concerns were raised over the legality of the BBF's actions".

The BBF told BBC Sport it disputed those claims, pointing to a letter addressed to the SBL in December explaining that interested parties would be "welcome to put forward any variations to the key terms that align with their vision".

It said the SBL chose not to enter the tender process "despite the BBF's encouragement", and that decision meant it "would not be awarded a long-term licence".

The BBF said the SLB had elected not to bid for a long-term licence, so it activated a clause to terminate the interim agreement at the end of the 2025-26 season.

The licence also allows for alignment with international competitions, including proposals by the NBA and world governing body Fiba to launch a new European league.

The BBF said it will "seek to engage" with Premier Basketball "as well as conducting a process to evaluate opportunities in population centres currently without a presence at the highest level such as Liverpool, Leeds, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Birmingham".

BBF chair Chris Grant said: "We're delighted to welcome GBBL to the British Basketball family.

"The award of this licence not only heralds the biggest ever level of financial investment into the league. It also brings the knowhow, connections and vision to excite those who already love the game and to attract new fans and participants.

"To have booming professional leagues which enable our top players to compete in front of British fans, week in and week out, is just what we need in order to fulfil British basketball's huge potential."

GBBL managing director and CEO Marshall Glickman said: "We are fully committed to uplifting the popularity of basketball in Great Britain.

"We are especially focused on making our league attractive to homegrown players, both in terms of economics and development. We want to see our players lead the GB national team to the 2028 LA Olympics."