Liga ACB


The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto, Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, with the two lowest-placed teams relegated to the LEB Oro and replaced by the top team in that division plus the winner of the playoffs.
The competition was founded as the ACB Primera División on 1983 following the decision of clubs in the Liga Nacional, founded in 1957, to break away from the Spanish Basketball Federation and professionalize the league. The league is a corporation in which the member clubs act as shareholders.
A total of [|49 teams] have competed in Liga ACB since its inception in 1983. Seven teams have been crowned champions, with FC Barcelona winning the title a record 15 times and Real Madrid 13 times, though Liga ACB also saw other champions, including Baskonia, Joventut Badalona, Bàsquet Manresa, Baloncesto Málaga and Valencia Basket.
Liga ACB is one of the most popular professional indoor sports leagues in the world, with an average attendance of 6,236 for league matches in the 2018–19 season. This is the ninth-highest of any domestic professional indoor sports league in the world and the fourth-highest of any professional basketball league in the world, behind the National Basketball Association, the EuroLeague, and the Women's National Basketball Association.

Competition format

The competition format follows the usual double round-robin format. During the course of a season, which lasts from October to May, each club plays every other club twice, once at home and once away, for a total of 34 games. Teams are ranked by total wins, with the eight highest-ranked clubs at the end of the season plays the playoffs and the winner of the playoffs is crowned champion.

Promotion and relegation

A system of promotion and relegation exists between the Liga ACB and the LEB Oro. The two lowest placed teams in Liga ACB are relegated to the LEB Oro, and the top team from the LEB Oro promoted to Liga ACB, with an additional club promoted after a series of playoffs involving the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth placed clubs. Below is a complete record of how many teams played in each season throughout the league's history:
Period of clubsPromotions
1983–198616 clubs3 clubs
1986–198816 clubs2 clubs
1988–199224 clubs2 clubs
1992–199322 clubs2 clubs
1993–199620 clubs2 clubs
1996–200818 clubs2 clubs
2008–200917 clubs2 clubs
2009–201618 clubs2 clubs
2016–201717 clubs2 clubs
2017–present18 clubs2 clubs

Controversies about promotion to Liga ACB

Until 2012, in the 29 editions played of the Liga ACB, only three teams declined promotion, due to acting as reserve teams or for lack of funds: CB Guadalajara and CB Cornellà in 1993 and CB Cajabilbao in 1994.
Since 2012, due to the financial crisis that started in 2008, only two teams of a possible 10 could promote to Liga ACB. This started a discussion about the promotion requirements of the ACB, considered by the LEB Oro clubs as "disproportionate".
For clubs that promote and would make their debut in the ACB demands:
In 2012, Iberostar Canarias and Menorca Bàsquet achieved promotion to ACB, but neither could fulfill the requirements in order to promote. However, Canarias finally played in ACB after buying the berth in the league of Lucentum Alicante, previously sold to the association.
In 2013, neither CB Atapuerca, Ford Burgos by sponsorship reasons, nor Lucentum Alicante could promote. The latter resigned also to play in the second league and joined the fifth division.
In 2014 and 2015, CB Tizona, also Ford Burgos by sponsorship reasons, did not promote despite achieving the place two years in a row. After its second failed promotion, the third in the city of Burgos, the club sued the Association any accused them of "distorting the reality". Also in 2015, despite having played in the league during the 1980s and 1990s, Club Ourense Baloncesto was not admitted in the league despite fulfilling all the requirements, after not passing an accounts audit. However, ACB would admit Ourense for the 2016–17 season if it fulfilled the requirements regardless of their position in the 2015–16 LEB Oro season.
On 24 April 2016, the National Commission of the Markets and the Competence argued that the inbound impedes, in an "unjustified, disproportionate and discriminatory" way, access of new clubs to Liga ACB.
On June 2016, the two promoted teams from LEB Oro resigned promotion to the 2016–17 ACB season and requested to the ACB their sign-in before the 2017–18 season. However, as Gipuzkoa Basket, who finished in relegation positions in three of the last four seasons, resigned from ACB, the Association offered again its place to Palencia and Melilla under these conditions:
Palencia and Mellila refused the invitation, to reinforce their position against the inbound to play in the league.
In April 2017, the National Commission for Markets and Competition declared the entering inbound and the deposit for the regulation of promotions and relegations as illegal, as they consider it "unjustified, discriminatory and excessive" and imposed a fine of €400,000 to the ACB. Subsequently, the ACB replied that it would appeal the decision of the CNMC, contending that it infringed on the self-organizing capacity of professional leagues, as recognized in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and in the European jurisprudence, and which was unprecedented in Europe and in the rest of the world.
In May 2017, the ACB ratified to file a contentious-administrative appeal and request for precautionary measures before the National Court, on the occasion of the resolution of the National Commission for Markets and Competition, as well as to refuse any resolution or decision, present or future, which relates to that act. Also, the ACB approved to establish a negotiation plan with the CSD and the FEB regarding the number of participating teams and the conditions to access to the competition in the next seasons.
In June 2017, the ACB agreed not to require the promotion requirements that have been the subject of the resolution and the participation fee. Also, the ACB agreed to continue negotiations with the CSD, the FEB and the CNMC to try to establish by mutual agreement new conditions for promotion. In view of the possibility of reaching an agreement that establishes economic and financial requirements in a consensual way before July 5, the Assembly has agreed to establish two new access criteria, provided that there is no pronouncement of the National Court on the precautionary measures regarding the resolution of the National Court, nor agreement with the different bodies that replace it. These conditions were:
On 10 July 2017, the ACB ratified the agreement with the FEB endorsed by the CSD, to change the conditions to make them easier for promoted teams from LEB Oro. The ACB had also reached a principle of agreement with FEB and CSD regarding a reduction of competition to 16 clubs in 2019 and the model of promotions and relegations in the coming seasons. However, this text has not obtained the necessary support of the clubs in the General Assembly and has not been approved, agreeing to continue the negotiations to find the model of competition appropriate to the interests of the teams overall. These new conditions consist of:
Ten days later and two years after the denounce of CB Tizona, Gipuzkoa Basket and CB Miraflores, also from Burgos, were promoted to Liga ACB. These were the first promotions since the one of Andorra in 2014. Also, Miraflores became the first team to make its debut in ACB since 2009.

Ranking of clubs on equal wins

If wins are equal between two or more clubs, the rules are:
The top teams in Liga ACB, apart from EuroLeague clubs, qualify for the EuroCup and the Champions League with no preference for any competition. Three teams have guaranteed spots in the EuroCup and two teams have guaranteed spots in the Champions League. In addition, other clubs could participate in the EuroCup or the Champions League. As of 2020, no team has participated in the FIBA Europe Cup.

History

The first basketball league in Spain was the Liga Nacional, organised by the Spanish Basketball Federation, whose first edition was played in 1957 by six teams from Madrid and the province of Barcelona. Until 1983 it continued being organised by the federation and consisting in only a round-robin tournament, where every teams faced all other twice, one at home and one away, with two points per win and one point in case of a draw.
In 1982, the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto was founded and one year later took the helm of the organisation of the league, with several changes in the competition format as they introduced the playoffs and the overtimes in case of draw.

League names

SeasonChampionRunner-upSeriesFinals MVPChampion's Coach
1983–84Real MadridFC Barcelona
2 – 1
rowspan=7 Lolo Sainz
1984–85Real MadridRon Negrita Joventut
2 – 1
 Lolo Sainz-
1985–86Real MadridFC Barcelona
2 – 0
 Lolo Sainz-
1986–87FC BarcelonaRon Negrita Joventut
3 – 1
 Aíto García Reneses-
1987–88FC BarcelonaReal Madrid
3 – 2
 Aíto García Reneses-
1988–89FC BarcelonaReal Madrid
3 – 2
 Aíto García Reneses-
1989–90FC BarcelonaRAM Joventut
3 – 0
 Aíto García Reneses-
1990–91Montigalà JoventutFC Barcelona
3 – 1
 Corny Thompson Lolo Sainz
1991–92Montigalà JoventutReal Madrid Asegurator
3 – 2
 Mike Smith Lolo Sainz
1992–93Real Madrid TekaMarbella Joventut
3 – 2
 Arvydas Sabonis Clifford Luyk
1993–94Real Madrid TekaFC Barcelona Banca Catalana
3 – 0
 Arvydas Sabonis Clifford Luyk
1994–95FC Barcelona Banca CatalanaUnicaja
3 – 2
 Michael Ansley Aíto García Reneses
1995–96FC Barcelona Banca CatalanaCaja San Fernando
3 – 0
 Xavi Fernández Aíto García Reneses
1996–97FC Barcelona Banca CatalanaReal Madrid Teka
3 – 2
 Roberto Dueñas Aíto García Reneses
1997–98TDK ManresaTAU Cerámica
3 – 1
 Joan Creus Luis Casimiro
1998–99FC BarcelonaCaja San Fernando
3 – 0
 Derrick Alston Aíto García Reneses
1999–00Real Madrid TekaFC Barcelona
3 – 2
 Alberto Angulo Sergio Scariolo
2000–01FC BarcelonaReal Madrid Teka
3 – 0
 Pau Gasol Aíto García Reneses
2001–02TAU CerámicaUnicaja
3 – 0
 Elmer Bennett Duško Ivanović
2002–03FC BarcelonaPamesa Valencia
3 – 0
 Šarūnas Jasikevičius Svetislav Pešić
2003–04FC BarcelonaAdecco Estudiantes
3 – 2
 Dejan Bodiroga Svetislav Pešić
2004–05Real MadridTAU Cerámica
3 – 2
 Louis Bullock Božidar Maljković
2005–06UnicajaTAU Cerámica
3 – 0
 Jorge Garbajosa Sergio Scariolo
2006–07Real MadridWinterthur FC Barcelona
3 – 1
 Felipe Reyes Joan Plaza
2007–08TAU CerámicaAXA FC Barcelona
3 – 0
 Pete Mickeal Neven Spahija
2008–09Regal FC BarcelonaTAU Cerámica
3 – 1
 Juan Carlos Navarro Xavi Pascual
2009–10Caja LaboralRegal FC Barcelona
3 – 0
 Tiago Splitter Duško Ivanović
2010–11Regal FC BarcelonaBizkaia Bilbao Basket
3 – 0
 Juan Carlos Navarro Xavi Pascual
2011–12FC Barcelona RegalReal Madrid
3 – 2
 Erazem Lorbek Xavi Pascual
2012–13Real MadridFC Barcelona Regal
3 – 2
 Felipe Reyes Pablo Laso
2013–14FC BarcelonaReal Madrid
3 – 1
 Juan Carlos Navarro Xavi Pascual
2014–15Real MadridFC Barcelona
3 – 0
 Sergio Llull Pablo Laso
2015–16Real MadridFC Barcelona Lassa
3 – 1
 Sergio Llull Pablo Laso
2016–17Valencia BasketReal Madrid
3 – 1
 Bojan Dubljević Pedro Martínez
2017–18Real MadridKirolbet Baskonia
3 – 1
 Rudy Fernández Pablo Laso
2018–19Real MadridBarça Lassa
3 – 1
 Facundo Campazzo Pablo Laso
2019–20Kirolbet BaskoniaBarça
69 – 67
 Luca Vildoza Duško Ivanović

Titles by club

Current clubs

All-time Liga ACB table

The all-time Liga ACB table is an overall record of all match results of every team that has played in Liga ACB since the 1983–84 season. The table is accurate as of the end of the 2019–20 season.
1Barcelona37155511643911513511983–841983–841
2Real Madrid3715221130392138621983–841983–841
3Baskonia37143890853845551983–841983–841
4Joventut37137578159424541983–841983–841
5Málaga35132875357512461983–841987–881
6Estudiantes371367712655–1571983–841983–842
7Valencia31117367649711421988–891996–971
8Gran Canaria291053504549–––21985–861995–964
9Real Betis301067481586–2––1989–902019–202
10Manresa3211294716581––21983–842018–191
11Valladolid301032432600––––1983–842013–146
12Girona20731330401––––1988–892007–085
13Fuenlabrada22748296452––––1996–972005–067
14CB Zaragoza13473270203––231983–841995–963
15Murcia22761268493––––1990–912011–127
16Breogán18638251387––––1984–852018–196
17Bilbao15521243278–1––2004–052019–202
18Canarias15517232285––––1983–842012–135
19León11398179219––––1990–912007–086
20Peñas12441173268––––1983–841995–9610
21Basket Zaragoza11377168209––112008–092010–113
22Granollers10352166186––––1983–841992–935
23Cáceres11388163225––––1992–932002–035
24Andorra10349158191––––1992–932014–156
25Ourense10383143240––––1989–902000–018
26Granada12411140271––––1996–972010–1110
27OAR Ferrol10350140210––––1983–841993–947
28Lucentum9316132184––––2000–012011–126
29Gipuzkoa11375128247––––2006–072018–195
30Obradoiro10329122207––––2009–102011–128
31Collado Villalba622693133––––1987–881991–928
32Oximesa622582143––––1986–871991–9211
33Cajabilbao518476108––––1986–871990–919
34Maristas Málaga41607684––––1988–891991–9213
35Espanyol51657392––––1984–851988–898
36Lleida41405783––––2001–022004–058
37Cantabria517053117––––1997–982001–0214
38Menorca516851117––––2005–062011–1215
39Círcol Catòlic3974948–––11983–841985–864
40Cajamadrid3984652––––1983–841985–865
41Miraflores3974354–––12017–182017–184
42Gijón414437107––––1995–962001–0215
43Salamanca2763640––––1994–951995–969
44Tenerife AB2892861––––1988–891989–9022
45Llíria2792752––––1991–921992–9316
46Tenerife2682543––––2003–042004–0510
47Ciudad de Huelva1391128––––1997–981997–9817
48L'Hospitalet1311120––––1983–841983–8415
49Askatuak1431033––––1988–891988–8924

League or status at 2019–20 season:
2019–20 ACB season
2019–20 LEB Oro season
2019–20 LEB Plata season
2019–20 Liga EBA season
Lower divisions
Clubs that no longer exist

Awards

All-time scoring leaders

Player nationality set by the player's national team affiliation. In bold, active players. In gold, players with more than 6,000 points, considered by the ACB as historic players.
Stats through end of 2018–19 ACB season:
RankPlayerGamesPointsAverage
1. Alberto Herreros 654 9,759 14.92
2. Jordi Villacampa 506 8,991 17.77
3. Brian Jackson 392 8,651 22.07
4. Juan Carlos Navarro 689 8,318 12.07
5. Felipe Reyes 798 8,254 10.34
6. Granger Hall 433 8,039 18.57
7. Joan Creus 585 7,929 13.55
8. Joe Arlauckas 365 7,543 20.67
9. Álex Mumbrú 677 7,435 10.98
10. Velimir Perasović 354 7,387 20.87
11. Epi 422 7,029 16.66
12. Darryl Middleton 398 6,425 16.14
13. Andre Turner 378 6,405 16.94
14. Rafael Jofresa 756 6,327 8.37
15. Richard Scott 350 6,199 17.71
16. John Pinone 332 6,175 18.60
17. Bernard Hopkins 456 6,088 13.35
18. Claude Riley 308 6,074 19.72
19. Xavi Fernández 499 6,042 12.11
20. Chicho Sibilio 348 6,010 17.27

All-time rebounding leaders

Player nationality set by the player's national team affiliation. In bold, active players. In gold, players with more than 2,500 rebounds, considered by the ACB as historic players.
Stats through the end of the 2018–19 ACB season:
RankPlayerGamesReboundsAverage
1. Felipe Reyes 798 4,665 5.85
2. Granger Hall 433 4,292 9.91
3. Carlos Jiménez 641 3,526 5.50
4. Claude Riley 308 3,033 9.85
5. Juan Antonio Orenga 616 2,933 4.77
6. Arvydas Sabonis 235 2,904 12.36
7. Bernard Hopkins 456 2,806 6.15
8. Fran Vázquez 638 2,788 4.37
9. Mike Smith 405 2,755 6.80
10. Larry Micheaux 269 2,729 10.14
11. Darryl Middleton 398 2,701 6.79
12. Joe Arlauckas 365 2,626 7.19
13. Álex Mumbrú 677 2,499 3,68
14. Harper Williams 346 2,493 7.21
15. Anicet Lavodrama 345 2,429 7.04
16. Alfonso Reyes 461 2,417 5.24
17. Axel Hervelle 473 2,355 4.98
18. Ante Tomić 389 2,341 6.02
19. Ramón Rivas 307 2,290 7.46
20. Ferran Martínez 417 2,287 5.48

Records

These are the standing ACB records for the regular season and play-offs.
Since several years ago, the Liga ACB is the European domestic league with the highest average attendance, always surpassing the 6,000 spectators per game since the 2002–03 season.

Season averages

All averages include playoffs games.
SeasonTotal gateGamesAverageChangeHigh avg.TeamLow avg.Team
1995–961,984,7064094,8536,757Estudiantes Argentaria3,400Xacobeo 99 Ourense
1996–971,692,1883414,962+2.2%6,517Estudiantes Argentaria3,357Baloncesto Fuenlabrada
1997–981,703,7843414,996+0.1%7,784Pamesa Valencia2,826Ourense Xacobeo 99
1998–991,753,1053315,296+6.0%8,050Pamesa Cerámica3,414Real Madrid Teka
1999–20001,766,8833355,274–0.0%8,603Pamesa Valencia3,607Cantabria Lobos
2000–011,705,8983315,154–3.0%8,425Unicaja3,159Club Ourense Baloncesto
2001–021,933,4253325,824+13.0%12,018Adecco Estudiantes3,385Canarias Telecom
2002–032,009,1533326,052+3.9%11,171Adecco Estudiantes3,735Cáceres CB
2003–042,045,6193356,106+0.9%11,176Adecco Estudiantes3,424Polaris World Murcia
2004–052,203,5883366,558+7.4%11,055Adecco Estudiantes3,903Unelco Tenerife
2005–062,108,6713366,276–4.3%9,733Unicaja4,265Leche Río
2006–072,254,5763366,710+6.9%9,727Real Madrid4,528Akasvayu Girona
2007–082,088,9893236,467–3.6%9,641MMT Estudiantes4,184Akasvayu Girona
2008–092,073,7732927,102+9.8%9,090TAU Cerámica4,858Ricoh Manresa
2009–102,135,4843266,551–7.8%9,765Bizkaia Bilbao Basket4,194CB Murcia
2010–112,018,0723246,409–2.2%9,345Asefa Estudiantes4,200Meridiano Alicante
2011–122,171,6733296,621+3.3%10,412Asefa Estudiantes4,424Assignia Manresa
2012–132,077,7873286,335–4.3%9,971Laboral Kutxa3,985Cajasol
2013–142,213,1163296,202–2.0%9,242Real Madrid3,515CB Valladolid
2014–152,091,1343286,375+2.7%9,406Real Madrid3,599MoraBanc Andorra
2015–162,082,2343286,387+1.5%9,918Baskonia4,026Iberostar Tenerife
2016–171,901,8262956,456+1.0%9,758Baskonia3,985ICL Manresa
2017–182,101,7553276,427–0.4%10,194Kirolbet Baskonia3,169Delteco GBC
2018–192,026,7603256,236–3.0%9,316San Pablo Burgos3,283Delteco GBC
2019–201,369,8222056,682+7.1%9,438San Pablo Burgos3,991MoraBanc Andorra

Source:

Historic average attendances

All averages include playoffs games.
Season
1995–963,5625,8965,1004,9746,7574,4574,9823,9894,6685,3474,8814,4416,1603,4003,9544,7755,6403,9685,1044,890
1996–975,9135,1304,9566,5173,3574,4323,8894,3626,2144,8865,0004,3035,1973,3634,0186,2295,5294,805
1997–986,0885,2034,8694,2586,6534,7064,1005,4123,6006,3014,7355,0004,6202,8264,4674,6867,7844,253
1998–995,7667,2884,9184,0966,3254,6644,4534,3826,2766,1284,8535,0004,7004,7095,9553,4148,0503,641
1999–005,3168,3113,8855,3493,6077,4485,0454,0944,2674,2785,7374,6035,3684,5625,4824,1138,6033,929
6,2487,8525,0355,2183,3366,1424,5744,2384,1453,8354,9593,9538,4253,1594,3683,8617,6684,283
2001–026,1527,9935,0004,7153,57712,0184,9023,8974,3633,3856,8845,8154,9168,5294,3144,2007,0324,675
2002–037,3858,3115,5073,73511,1714,7993,8404,4415,0065,2085,0714,9098,5474,4796,3064,4597,9394,688
2003–046,8898,7665,44711,1764,7094,4314,1995,6035,7715,1378,5474,4373,4245,9354,7744,0948,1755,214
2004–055,4518,5105,0035,42411,0554,5454,2086,8235,7464,8995,2519,8254,8035,95910,5613,9036,8535,654
2005–065,1438,6195,4714,2657,7824,7874,9974,3466,9966,3065,2449,7334,8745,1545,7829,1397,0745,855
2006–075,3758,7596,4548,8004,8749,3714,5284,6127,0826,4394,9749,4815,2355,3685,7719,7276,9685,981
2007–085,0098,6605,7069,6415,0994,1844,7827,4997,9365,2859,2424,8795,3115,0915,3548,8786,9286,183
2008–095,0919,0907,0038,9635,2558,2944,9247,4077,4678,9504,8585,3504,9255,9508,8477,52910,264
2009–105,4699,0119,3458,5865,2606,6984,6466,4686,3614,3068,6504,5854,1945,5106,1948,3907,5725,530
2010–114,8338,9377,8689,7655,4276,0494,6585,4835,5064,2009,3564,2094,5885,1416,4587,4784,9887,600
2011–124,89810,2348,66810,4125,2237,0374,6065,2004,5318,4264,4245,3555,2415,4618,5587,9524,5487,326
2012–134,5619,7509,6264,1579,0235,0806,3624,6665,2306,1934,2765,6625,4143,9857,6077,8654,8947,626
2013–144,9099,1909,0973,8687,9274,8605,9985,1475,4496,3174,0235,5845,0494,1579,2428,0023,5158,010
2014–153,5994,8688,9188,8554,0667,8394,9935,5936,2585,9317,5654,2535,9685,0654,1539,4068,0607,933
2015–164,0375,0749,9189,0634,0268,6505,1874,1146,7654,9387,3404,3305,9315,2644,5468,9718,2107,144
2016–174,2284,2729,7588,7084,5218,3564,9116,4644,9757,1163,9855,6375,0674,8869,0728,1597,467
2017–184,2244,79010,1948,7524,6608,1505,1743,1695,8654,9867,2389,0705,5784,9824,1578,5847,2547,663
2018–194,0465,3239,1474,8784,5828,6115,1143,2835,2635,2197,5724,7059,1535,6054,9038,7277,2737,904
2019–203,9915,6938,9318,5004,8739,0745,1796,1225,5507,7684,5159,4385,5105,1045,3218,0867,0969,371
SeasonPEÑSALCBZ

Source:

Individual game highest attendance

Source:

Other competitions