The British Basketball Federation (BBF) has today confirmed a three-year license has been awarded to a consortium of British clubs for the professional men’s basketball league in Great Britain.
The BBF revoked the license from Basketball League Limited (the operating company of the BBL) following breaches in the license after the 23/24 Season concluded. The BBF stated it would work with the clubs to try and establish a route for the 24/25 season to go ahead and today confirmed a new license has now been issued.
Chris Grant OBE, Chair of the British Basketball Federation said: “I’m delighted that fans, players, staff and partners can look forward with confidence to the continuation of top-level British club basketball.
“The fact that we’ve been able to move so quickly following the termination of the previous licence is down to the positivity and unity of the clubs, as well as the professionalism and focus of our BBF team and Board.
“The way we’ve worked together bodes well for the ongoing improvement and alignment of our player pathway so that the wealth of British basketball talent can translate to success on the international stage.”
Speaking on behalf of the consortium of clubs, Vaughn Millette, new majority shareholder of Sheffield Sharks, said:
“Since the license was revoked, we (the clubs) have all worked together to sustain the elite professional pathway in the UK. There has been a huge amount of work undertaken in a very short amount of time to enable this to happen.
“We would like to thank Chris Grant and the team at the BBF for working with us to deliver this solution and reassure our fans that a professional basketball league will get underway this September.
“We are pleased that the British Basketball Federation has made the decision to award the men’s professional license to our newly formed operating company ‘Premier Basketball Limited’. Our fans will appreciate there is a huge amount still to be done and more details will be released shortly – including the fixture schedule for the forthcoming season.”
Premier Basketball Limited has been established by clubs that previously competed in the BBL.
The new league name, club line-ups, start date and fixtures will all be announced in the weeks to follow.
