Sport Basketball CEO Hannes S. Jónsson Country Iceland Number of teams 12 | Inaugural season 1951–52 No. of teams 12 Continent FIBA Europe (Europe) Date founded 1951 | |
Premier League (Icelandic: Úrvalsdeild karla), also known as Domino's League, is the highest basketball competition among clubs in Iceland, where play determines the national champion. It is organized by the Icelandic Basketball Federation (Icelandic: Körfuknattleikssamband Íslands - KKÍ). The season consists of a home-and-away schedule of 22 games, followed by an eight-team playoff round. Quarterfinals series are best-of-three, semifinals and finals series are best-of-five. The bottom clubs are relegated, and replaced by the top team from the regular-season phase and the four-team playoff round winner of the second-level First Division (Icelandic: 1. deild karla).
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Creation
The Premier League (Icelandic: Úrvalsdeild karla) was founded in 1951 and until 1978 it was called 1. division.
From the 2005-06 season to the 2011-12 season, it has been named the Iceland Express League, from its sponsor: Iceland Express airline. Since the 2012-13 season it has been named the Domino's League, from its sponsor: Domino's pizza.
ÍR's dominance
For the first years, from its foundation in 1951 until the 1963-64 season, the Premier League was dominated by two teams only: ÍKF (with 4 wins) and ÍR (with 8 wins); with the sole exception of the 1958-59 season, in which won the ÍS. From the following season, the 1964-65 season, until the 1974-75, the Premier League was dominated by the ÍR (with 6 more wins) and the KR (with 5 wins). Two years later, the 1976-77 season marked the fifteenth and last victory of the ÍR in the Premier League and an end of an era.
Njarðvík's leadership
The next two decades, exactly from 1980-81 season to the 1997-98 season, the Njarðvík lead the Premier League with 10 wins. In the same period, the Keflavík won 4 titles and the KR won their eighth title.
Modern era
From the 2000-01 season, many teams have divided the lead of the Premier League. In the 2005-06 season, the Njarðvík won their thirteenth title. In the following season, the 2006-07 season, the KR won their tenth title and one more year later, in the 2007-08 season, the Keflavík won their ninth title.
International influence
In the recent years an increasing number of international players have moved directly from playing elsewhere in the world to starring in the Premier League. Below there is a short list of notable foreign players, either currently or formerly active in the league:
Teams
The Premier League originated in 1951 and, currently, consists of 12 teams. The ÍR have won the most championships with 15 Premier League wins. The second most successful franchise is the Njarðvík, who have won 13 Premier League championships. Following them, there are the KR with 12 Premier League championships and the Keflavík with 9 Premier League championships. The current Premier League teams for the 2012-13 season are: