Euroleague and Eurocup 2016-17 Structures Set

The competition structures of the 2016-17 Euroleague and Eurocup were discussed in a recent meeting of Euroleague Basketball A License clubs. The clubs discussed the revamped structures of Europe’s Top basketball competitions, the Turkish Airlines Euroleague and the Eurocup.

Euroleague

The Euroleague will consist of 16 teams which will compete in a round robin format in 30 regular season rounds, a first in Euroleague competition. The Top 8 teams will play in best-of-five series in the quarterfinals and then the Final Four. Clubs from four leagues (Adriatic League, German League, Spanish League, and United Basketball League) will gain access to the Euroleague via one-year B Licenses. These four clubs will join the 11 A License teams the previous season’s Eurocup champion.

The 11 A License teams are Anadolue Efes, CSKA Moscow, EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, FC Barcelona Lassa, Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul, Laboral Kutxa Vitoria Gasteiz, Maccabi Fox Tel Aviv, Olympiacos Pireaus, Panathinaikos Athens, Real Madrid, Zalgiris Kaunas.

For the 2016-17 season, the Spanish League B License will be filled by a wild card, but will revert back to the Spanish League in 2017-18.

Eurocup

The Eurocup will have 24 teams divided into four groups for the regular season. The Top 16 teams will advance and will be divided into four groups of four teams each. Eight teams will then qualify for a best-of-three quaterfinals, followed by a best-of-three semifinals and best-of-three championship series.

The Adriatic League, Spanish League, and United Basketball League will qualify three Eurocup teams for the 2016-17 season. The German League will qualify two teams. Five additional wild cards remain to be allocated from more than 10 candidates currently from Belgium, France, Italy, Lithuania, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and the Adriatic League territories.