BKT EuroCup
Founded7 July 2002 (2002-07-07)[1]
First season2002–03
RegionEurope
Number of teams20
Promotion toEuroLeague
Current championsSpain Gran Canaria (1st title)
(2022–23)
Most championshipsSpain Valencia (4 titles)
TV partnersList of broadcasters
Websitewww.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/
2023–24 EuroCup Basketball

EuroCup Basketball, commonly known as the EuroCup and currently called BKT EuroCup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual professional basketball club competition organized by Euroleague Basketball. The league is regarded as Euroleague Basketball's second-tier professional basketball club tournament.

Founded as ULEB Cup in 2002, the competition lasted until 2008 when a new competition was introduced after an agreement between ULEB and FIBA under the name of EuroCup for the 2008–09 season, following a change in format.[2] Given that the FIBA EuroChallenge was known as EuroCup until 2008, a new era of stronger cooperation between ULEB and FIBA Europe was set in 2008. The number of the new competition was increased to a total of 48 and the winner of the 3d tier FIBA EuroCup Challenge, formerly known as EuroCup would get an automatic qualification for the tournament's following season, for first time.

Though initially advertised as a new competition, the ULEB Cup and EuroCup Basketball are now considered the same competition, with the change of name being simply a re-branding.

Since the 2021–22 season both EuroCup finalists qualify for next season's EuroLeague. Until then only the winner was entitled to the one year licence.

The title has been won by 14 clubs, 3 of which have won the title more than once. The most successful club in the competition are Valencia Basket, with four titles. The current champions are Gran Canaria, winning their first title after defeating Turk Telekom in the 2023 Finals.

History

The competition was created in 2002, as the ULEB Cup, and has had several names:

Sponsorship names

On 7 July 2016, Chipita and Euroleague Basketball announced a strategic agreement to sponsor the European competition across the globe. According to the agreement, starting with the 2016–17 season, the competition would be named 7DAYS EuroCup. This title partnership was set to run for three seasons.[3]

Logos

Evolution of the EuroCup logo
2002–2008 2008–2016 2016–present

Qualification

Clubs qualify for the competition based on their performance in their domestic leagues competitions. For this purpose, the clubs from countries participating in the ABA League qualify for the competition based on their performance in the ABA League, and not their domestic leagues.

Format

Starting with the 2016–17 season, the EuroCup's first phase is the Regular Season, in which 20 teams participate. The participants include 20 clubs automatically entered into the Regular Season. Each team plays two games (home-and-away) against every other team in its group. At the end of the Regular Season, the field is cut from 20 to 16. The next phase, known as the Top 16, then begins, featuring the 16 survivors of the Regular Season in four-team groups. As in the Regular Season, each Top 16 group is contest in a double round-robin format. The group winners and runners-up advance to the third phase, the Playoffs. Each playoff series is best-of-three, and the winners of each series advance to the next round persistently until the Finals. Home advantage in the series goes to the best placed team in the Top 16. The Finals features the two remaining series winners in a best-of-three series with home advantage in the series to the best placed team in the Top 16.

Previous EuroCup formats

Historically, the competition began with a group phase in which the starting field was reduced to 16 teams. The survivors then advanced to a knockout phase. In the inaugural 2002–03 season, the knockout phase consisted entirely of two-legged ties. In the following 2003–04 season, the final became a one-off game, but all other knockout ties remained two-legged.

In the 2007–08 season, the initial phase, now called the Regular Season, was only used to reduce the field to 32 teams. The survivors were paired into two-legged knockout ties, with the winners advancing to another set of two-legged ties. The survivors then entered the first-ever Final Eight phase in the competition's history, consisting of one-off knockout games.

The following 2008–09 season, was the first in which preliminary rounds were conducted. That year saw two preliminary rounds held, the first involving 16 teams, and the second involving the eight winners, plus eight teams that had received byes into that round. The survivors of the second preliminary round joined 24 direct qualifiers in the Regular Season. This season also saw the introduction of the Last 16 group phase, and proved to be the last for the Final Eight.

The last stage of the EuroCup, the EuroCup Finals, was reduced from eight teams to four, starting with the 2009–10 season. This stage was directly analogous to the EuroLeague Final Four, and like that stage of the EuroLeague, consisted of one-off knockout semifinals, followed by a single-game final. Unlike the EuroLeague Final Four, in which the third-place game and final are held two days after the semifinals, the corresponding games of the EuroCup were held the day after the semifinals.

In the 2012–13 season, the final was decided by a single game format, after double-legged semifinals and quarterfinals. For the 2013–14 season, the competition increased from 32 to 48 teams in the Regular Season phase. Another innovation that started in the 2013–14 season, was that the clubs were divided into two regional conferences, the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference, for the Regular Season phase.[4] The size of the groups grew to six teams, where the first three qualified teams joined the Last 32 stage. In addition, the eight EuroLeague clubs that did not qualify for the EuroLeague Top 16 phase, joined the remaining 24 EuroCup teams and the Finals were decided by a double-legged series.

For the 2014–15 season, the competition contained 36 teams at the group stage. There were 6 groups, each containing 6 teams. The 36 teams consisted of the 7 teams that were eliminated in the 2014–15 Euroleague season qualification rounds, and 29 teams that qualified directly to the 2014–15 EuroCup, either through 2013–14 season results, or through wild cards. The top four teams from each of the Regular Season groups with the eight EuroLeague clubs that did not qualify for the EuroLeague Top 16 phase qualified to join the Last 32 stage. For the 2015–16 season, the competition contained 36 clubs automatically entered into the Regular Season and the eight EuroLeague clubs that did not qualify for the EuroLeague Top 16 phase qualified to join the Last 32 stage.

European professional basketball club rankings

Arena standards

Effective as of the 2012–13 season, all EuroCup clubs must host their home games in arenas that have a regular seating capacity of at least 2,500 (all seated), and an additional minimum capacity of 200 VIP seats available.[5] By comparison, EuroLeague licensed clubs host their home games in arenas that seat at least 10,000 people, while EuroLeague associated clubs must have arenas that seat 5,000.

Results

Year Final Semifinalists
Champion Score Second place Third place Score Fourth place
2002–03
Details
Spain
Pamesa Valencia
168–154
(78–90 / 78–76)
Slovenia
Krka
Spain Adecco Estudiantes and Spain DKV Joventut
2003–04
Details
Israel
Hapoel Jerusalem
83–72 Spain
Real Madrid
Spain Adecco Estudiantes and Serbia and Montenegro Reflex FMP
2004–05
Details
Lithuania
Lietuvos rytas
78–74 Greece
Makedonikos
Serbia and Montenegro Hemofarm and Spain Pamesa Valencia
2005–06
Details
Russia
Dynamo Moscow
73–60 Greece
Aris TT Bank
Serbia and Montenegro Hemofarm and Israel Hapoel Jerusalem
2006–07
Details
Spain
Real Madrid
87–75 Lithuania
Lietuvos rytas
Serbia FMP and Russia UNICS
2007–08
Details
Spain
DKV Joventut
79–54 Spain
Akasvayu Girona
Russia
Dynamo Moscow
84–67 Turkey
Galatasaray Café Crown
2008–09
Details
Lithuania
Lietuvos rytas
80–74 Russia
Khimki
Serbia Hemofarm and Spain iurbentia Bilbao Basket
2009–10
Details
Spain
Power Electronics Valencia
67–44 Germany
Alba Berlin
Spain
Bizkaia Bilbao Basket
76–67 Greece
Panellinios
2010–11
Details
Russia
UNICS
92–77 Spain
Cajasol
Croatia
Cedevita
59–57 Italy
Benetton Bwin
2011–12
Details
Russia
Khimki
77–68 Spain
Valencia Basket
Lithuania
Lietuvos rytas
71–62 Russia
Spartak Saint Petersburg
2012–13
Details
Russia
Lokomotiv Kuban
75–64 Spain
Uxúe Bilbao Basket
Ukraine Budivelnyk and Spain Valencia Basket
2013–14
Details
Spain
Valencia Basket
165–140
(80–67 / 73–85)
Russia
UNICS
Serbia Crvena zvezda Telekom and Russia Nizhny Novgorod
2014–15
Details
Russia
Khimki
174–130
(66–91 / 83–64)
Spain
Herbalife Gran Canaria
Turkey Banvit and Russia UNICS
2015–16
Details
Turkey
Galatasaray Odeabank
140–133
(66–62 / 78–67)
France
Strasbourg
Italy Dolomiti Energia Trento and Spain Herbalife Gran Canaria
2016–17
Details
Spain
Unicaja
2–1
(68–62 / 79–71 / 58–63)
Spain
Valencia Basket
Israel Hapoel Jerusalem and Russia Lokomotiv Kuban
2017–18
Details
Turkey
Darüşşafaka
2–0
(78–81 / 67–59)
Russia
Lokomotiv Kuban
Germany Bayern Munich and Italy Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia
2018–19
Details
Spain
Valencia Basket
2–1
(89–75 / 92–95 / 89–63)
Germany
Alba Berlin
Andorra MoraBanc Andorra and Russia UNICS Kazan
2019–20
Details
Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
2020–21
Details
France
Monaco
2–0
(89–87 / 86–83)
Russia
UNICS
Spain Herbalife Gran Canaria and Italy Virtus Segafredo Bologna
2021–22
Details
Italy
Virtus Segafredo Bologna
80–67 Turkey
Frutti Extra Bursaspor
Andorra MoraBanc Andorra and Spain Valencia Basket
2022–23
Details
Spain
Gran Canaria
71–67 Turkey
Türk Telekom
Spain Joventut and Ukraine Prometey

Awards

After a given EuroCup season, before the finals, annual EuroCup awards are handed out to players and coaches. These awards include:

Performance by club

Map of countries, teams from which have reached the regular season of the EuroCup Basketball.
  Country that has been represented in the regular season
  Not represented

A total number of 181 clubs from 30 countries have participated in the competition.

Club Winners Runners-up Years won Years runner-up
Spain Valencia Basket 4 2 2002–03, 2009–10, 2013–14, 2018–19 2011–12, 2016–17
Lithuania Rytas 2 1 2004–05, 2008–09 2006–07
Russia Khimki 2 1 2011–12, 2014–15 2008–09
Russia UNICS 1 2 2010–11 2013–14, 2020–21
Spain Real Madrid 1 1 2006–07 2003–04
Russia Lokomotiv Kuban 1 1 2012–13 2017–18
Spain Gran Canaria 1 1 2022–23 2014–15
Israel Hapoel Jerusalem 1 0 2003–04
Russia Dynamo Moscow 1 0 2005–06
Spain Joventut 1 0 2007–08
Turkey Galatasaray 1 0 2015–16
Spain Málaga 1 0 2016–17
Turkey Darüşşafaka 1 0 2017–18
France Monaco 1 0 2020–21
Italy Virtus Bologna 1 0 2021–22
Germany Alba Berlin 0 2 2009–10, 2018–19
Slovenia Krka 0 1 2002–03
Greece Makedonikos 0 1 2004–05
Greece Aris 0 1 2005–06
Spain Girona 0 1 2007–08
Spain Real Betis 0 1 2010–11
Spain Bilbao 0 1 2012–13
France Strasbourg 0 1 2015–16
Turkey Bursapor 0 1 2021–22
Turkey Türk Telekom 0 1 2022–23

Performance by country

Rank Nation Champion Finalist
1. Spain Spain 8
Valencia (4), Real Madrid (1), Joventut (1), Málaga (1), Gran Canaria (1)
7
Valencia (2), Real Madrid (1), Girona (1), Real Betis (1), Bilbao (1), Gran Canaria (1)
2. Russia Russia 5
Khimki (2), Dynamo Moscow (1), UNICS (1), Lokomotiv Kuban (1)
4
UNICS (2), Khimki (1), Lokomotiv Kuban (1)
3. Turkey Turkey 2
Galatasaray (1), Darüşşafaka (1)
2
Bursaspor (1), Türk Telekom (1)
4. Lithuania Lithuania 2
Rytas (2)
1
Rytas (1)
5. France France 1
Monaco (1)
1
Strasbourg (1)
6. Israel Israel 1
Hapoel Jerusalem (1)
- Italy Italy 1
Virtus Bologna (1)
8. Greece Greece 2
Makedonikos (1), Aris (1)
- Germany Germany 2
Alba Berlin (2)
10. Slovenia Slovenia 1
Krka (1)

Statistical leaders and individual high performances

All-time leaders

Average Totals
Points Serbia Igor Rakočević19.05 Montenegro Bojan Dubljević1,217
Rebounds Montenegro Vladimir Golubović8.39 Belarus Vladimir Veremeenko[6]609
Assists Montenegro Omar Cook6.44 Serbia Stefan Marković491
Steals United States Jerry McCullough2.82 United States Mire Chatman167
Blocks United States Andre Riddick1.77 United States Andre Riddick147
Index Ratings Turkey Michael Wright22.14 United States Mire Chatman1,472

Highest attendance records

Sponsors

Title sponsor
Premium partners
Global partners

Source:[8][9][10][11][12][13]

See also

Men's competitions
Women's competitions

References and notes

  1. "ULEB assembly approves 32-team ULEB Cup". Euroleague. 8 July 2002. Archived from the original on 2 August 2002. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  2. "ULEB, FIBA Europe announce new competitions names, formats". EuroCup Basketball. 2 July 2008. Archived from the original on 29 December 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  3. "Introducing the 7DAYS EuroCup!". EuroCup Basketball. 7 July 2016. Archived from the original on 10 July 2016.
  4. Eurocup changes format, expands to 48 teams for 2013-14 season; Eurocupbasketball.com, 14 June 2013
  5. C H A P T E R V I I Arenas. Archived 11 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine
  6. "Veremeenko becomes new Eurocup rebounding king!". EurocupBasketball.com. 13 November 2014. Archived from the original on 14 February 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  7. "Crvena Zvezda sets crowd record at Belgrade Arena!". eurocupbasketball.com. 26 March 2014. Archived from the original on 6 April 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
  8. "Global – Marketing Partners". Euroleague Basketball. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  9. "Germany – Marketing Partners". Euroleague Basketball. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  10. "Russia – Marketing Partners". Euroleague Basketball. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  11. "Turkey – Marketing Partners". Euroleague Basketball. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  12. "Spain – Marketing Partners". Euroleague Basketball. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  13. "Greece – Marketing Partners". Euroleague Basketball. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
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