BBF & BBL Agree Initial Terms on 10 Year License Renewal

The British Basketball Federation (BBF) and the British Basketball League (BBL) have agreed the Heads of Terms for a new 10 year License for the BBL to continue to run the professional men’s basketball league in Great Britain, at the expiry of the current License in summer 2017.

The agreement comes after months of discussions between the new FIBA approved Governing Body for basketball, the BBF, and the BBL Clubs, and is claimed to be the turning point in the way the professional game in Great Britain will be managed and developed.

The new Terms will require new performance standards to be set for clubs in the BBL, and a commitment to an improvement in those standards, with active monitoring by both the BBL and by the BBF. Those performance standards will include matters on and off the court, and will include playing venues, seating capacities, coaching standards, player remuneration and welfare, and promotion and administration standards.

Work on the detailed terms for the License will now proceed apace with completion in the first quarter of 2017, so that the License is fully implemented before the current License expires.

The Heads of Terms for the 10 year license was approved by the BBF Board on 25 November and by the BBL Board on 29 November.

“We are delighted to reach this agreement with the BBL,” said BBF Interim Chairman Bill McInnes OBE. “And look forward to working with them to finalise a License which will improve the professionalism and standards of the men’s Clubs’ game in a clear and systematic way, with the whole of the sport united around a number of common objectives.

“Those objectives, which support the strategy developed for basketball in Britain earlier this year, include improving the commercialism and marketability of the club game, but also the opportunities for young British players, with a positive impact on the Great Britain teams.

“There is still work to be done to get all the detail agreed but we have been pleased with the approach of the top Clubs to working together to drive the sport forward.”

For the BBL, Chairman Sir Rodney Walker commented:

“This is an important milestone for the sport of basketball, and we are delighted with the progress so far to get a long term License in place. We have already seen some important commercial developments in the men’s professional game with the recent media deals with the BBC and the Perform Group, in addition to existing and extended commercial partnerships with Molten, Kappa, Genius Sports, Synergy and Tickets.com.

“The certainty these arrangements will provide, and the commitment of all parties to work together to drive up standards and the professionalism of the sport, can only be good for basketball. But this is the start of the journey and there remains much work to be done.”

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