Formerly | Goodyear liga (2001–2006) NLB League (2006–2010) |
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Organising body | ABA League JTD |
Founded | 2001 |
First season | 2001–02 |
Countries | Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatia Montenegro North Macedonia Serbia Slovenia United Arab Emirates Bulgaria (former) Czech Republic (former) Hungary (former) Israel (former) |
Confederation | FIBA Europe |
Number of teams | 16 |
Level on pyramid | 1st |
Relegation to | ABA Second Division |
Domestic cup(s) | ABA Super Cup |
International cup(s) | |
Current champions | Crvena zvezda (7th title) (2023–24) |
Most championships | Partizan Crvena zvezda (7 titles each) |
CEO | Dubravko Kmetović |
President | Đorđije Pavićević |
TV partners | |
Website | aba-liga.com |
2024–25 season |
The ABA League, renamed the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the top-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia). Due to sponsorship reasons, the league was also known as the Goodyear League from 2001 to 2006, the NLB League from 2006 to 2011, and as the AdmiralBet ABA League from 2021.
The league coexists alongside scaled-down national leagues in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia. All but one of Adriatic League clubs join their country's own competitions in late spring after the Adriatic League regular season and post-season have been completed. In the past, the league has also consisted of clubs from Bulgaria (Levski), the Czech Republic (ČEZ Nymburk), Hungary (Szolnoki Olaj), and Israel (Maccabi Tel Aviv) that received wild card invitations. For the 2024–25 season BC Dubai from the United Arab Emirates is also joining the league.
The Adriatic League is a private venture, founded in 2001 and run until 2015 by the Sidro, a Slovenian limited liability company. Since 2015, the league has been operated by ABA League JTD, a Zagreb-based general partnership for organizing sports competitions. Adriatic Basketball Association is the body that organizes the league and is a full member of ULEB, as well as a voting member of Euroleague Basketball's board.