| Levanga Hokkaido | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Leagues | B.League | |||
| Founded | 2006 | |||
| History | Rera Kamuy Hokkaido Basketball Club Hokkaido Levanga Hokkaido | |||
| Arena | Hokkai Kitayell | |||
| Location | Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan | |||
| Team colors | Chartreuse and Sapphire | |||
| Main sponsor | Eagle Pachinko | |||
| President | Takehiko Orimo | |||
| Website | www | |||
| ||||
Levanga Hokkaido is a Japanese professional basketball team based in the city of Sapporo on the island of Hokkaido. The club was founded in 2006 as Rera Kamuy Hokkaido, this name comes from the language of the Ainu, an ethnic group indigenous to Hokkaido, and means "god of the winds".[1] The franchise changed its name twice in 2011; the first when the club's parent company was kicked out of the league due to financial woes in the season. The team ended the season with a league-backed management group and a new moniker, calling itself Basketball Club Hokkaido. And finally, took its current name Levanga Hokkaido, in August 2011.[2]
The team debuted in the Japan Basketball League in the 2007–2008 season and is one of only three teams in the league not owned by a major Japanese manufacturing company.
Levanga plays its home games mainly at the Hokkai Kitayell, but, as the team represents the entire Hokkaido Prefecture, also plays some home-games at the Asahikawa City General Gymnasium, Otaru City Gymnasium, Hakodate Arena, Obihiro City General Gymnasium & Kushiro Shitsugen no Kaze Arena.
The club was 200 million yen in debt in March 2017,[3][4] but has since paid it off.[5]
- ^ Kane Kumagai, Translated by Yongdeok Cho (Noir) (2006). "Ainu for Beginners". UniLang. Archived from the original on December 9, 2008. Retrieved October 23, 2008.
- ^ "Name change". japantimes. 2011. Retrieved 1 Jan 2017.
- ^ Hokkaido Shimbun (6 August 2015). "債務超過解消と本拠地確保 ＮＢＬ北海道、新Ｌ１部入りの鍵". Archived from the original on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
- ^ Yomiuri Shimbun (3 March 2017). "レバンガ、２億円債務超過 Ｂ１資格継続審議". Archived from the original on 3 March 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
- ^ "株式会社レバンガ北海道（第8期）決算報告について". レバンガ北海道. 22 November 2018.