Country Russia Website www.vtb-league.com Current champion PBC CSKA Moscow Founded 2009 | Level on pyramid 1 Number of teams 13 Most championships CSKA Moscow; (6 titles) First season 2008 | |
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Other club(s) from Belarus
Estonia
Kazakhstan
Latvia International cup(s) EuroLeague
EuroCup
Basketball Champions League Current champions CSKA Moscow
(6th title) Instances 2016–17 VTB United League Teams PBC CSKA Moscow, BC UNICS, BC Kalev/Cramo, BC Khimki, PBC Lokomotiv‑Kuban Profiles | ||
VTB United League (Russian: Единая Лига ВТБ) is an international professional men's basketball league that was founded in 2008. Since 2013, it is the first tier of Russian professional club basketball, as well as the national domestic league of Russia. Therefore, the highest placed Russian team in the league is also named Russian national champions. Its goal is to unite the leading basketball clubs of Eastern Europe and Northern Europe together into one league. The league is sponsored by VTB Bank.
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Formats
In its inaugural 2009–10 season league format season, the VTB United League featured clubs from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia and Ukraine. For the 2010–11 season, teams from Finland, Poland and Belarus were added to the league. The 2011–12 season featured a total of 18 teams, with new teams being added from Czech Republic and Kazakhstan. In the 2012–13 season, the number of teams increased to 20. The number of teams was decreased to 16 for the 2014–15 season, and the teams from Ukraine and Lithuania dropped out of the competition.
History
The first step in the creation of the league was a competition named the VTB United League Promo-Cup held in Moscow in December, 2008. The final of the Promo-Cup was played on December 22, 2008, and was won by CSKA Moscow, who defeated Khimki 70–66. Kyiv ended third.
Unification with the Russian PBL
In May 2012, all the PBL clubs gathered to decide which format would be used for the next season, and some club's directors raised the possibility of uniting with the VTB United League, to produce greater competition between the Russian basketball clubs. They suggested that the new league would be named the Eastern European Professional Basketball League.
In July 2012, the Council of VTB United League gave a definitive decision. It was decided that the PBL league would continue for one more year, with some of the games of the VTB United League that took place between two Russian clubs being counted as PBL games. The first tier Russian clubs then replaced the PBL with the VTB United League as their new national domestic league, starting with the 2013-14 season.
The VTB United League was officially recognized by FIBA Europe in September 2013. The league was then officially recognized by FIBA World in October 2014. The league needed to be recognized by both bodies, because it contains clubs that come from countries that are part of both the European and Asian FIBA zones.
Arena rules
In order for clubs to play in the VTB United League, they must have a home arena that has a seating capacity of at least 3,000 seats.