Current season, competition or edition: 2024-2025 Baltic Women's Basketball League | |
Sport | Basketball |
---|---|
Founded | 19 May 1994 |
First season | 1994–95 |
No. of teams | 10 |
Country | Estonia Latvia Lithuania |
Continent | FIBA Europe |
Most recent champion(s) | TTT Riga |
Most titles | Aistės-LSU Kaunas (14 titles) |
Official website | bwbl.lt |
The Baltic Women's Basketball League (BWBL) is a top-level regional basketball league in Northern Europe. The league features women's teams from Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Teams from Finland, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, and Sweden have competed in the past seasons.
The Baltic Women's Basketball League was founded in 1994. [1] [2] In its 15th season in 2008, the league contained 18 teams from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, and Kazakhstan. [3] By 2016, for the league's 26th season, the league had 10 teams from Belarus, Estonia, Poland, Russia, Ukraine and Lithuania. [4] After Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, teams from Belarus and Russia were banned from participation. [5]
In 2023, the Lithuanian Basketball Federation took over leadership of the league with the popular online betting company Betsafe, part of Betsson, signing a three year agreement to serve as its title sponsor. [6] [7]
In 2024, it was announced that the league would introduce divisions for the first time with teams from all three of the Baltic States competing. [8]
Division A | Division B |
---|---|
Vilniaus "Kibirkštis" | Kauno "Aistės-LSMU" |
Klaipėdos "Neptūnas-Amberton" | Panevėžys |
Klaipėdos LCC Tarptautinis Universitetas | Vilniaus "Uniclub Bet-Oaks" |
Šiauliai-Vilmers | Kauno r. "Atletas" |
TTT Riga | Akmenės kraštas |
Liepaja/LSSS | Daugpilio universitetas |
TSA/CITYTEED Tallinn | TTT Riga Juniors |
Latvijos U16 rinktinė |
Kauno futbolo ir beisbolo klubas, commonly known as FBK Kaunas, was a Lithuanian football club from the city of Kaunas.
Lietuvos krepšinio lyga, also known as Betsafe LKL for sponsorship reasons, is the premier professional men's club basketball league in Lithuania. It is composed of 10 teams, and it is a member of the Lithuanian Basketball Federation. The best LKL clubs are also annual participants of the top European-wide basketball competitions, including the top-tier level EuroLeague.
Jonava is the ninth largest city in Lithuania with a population of c. 30,000. It is located in Kaunas County in central Lithuania, 30 km (19 mi) north east of Kaunas, the second-largest city in Lithuania. It is served by Kaunas International Airport. Achema, the largest fertilizer factory in the Baltic states, is located nearby. The city is sometimes called "the capital of midsummer holiday".
The National Basketball League (NKL) (Lithuanian: Nacionalinė krepšinio lyga), also known as 7bet-NKL for sponsorship reasons, is the second-tier basketball minor league in Lithuania. It is placed below the top division Lietuvos krepšinio lyga (LKL). The competition currently consists of 15 teams. The champions of the league have the option to promote to the LKL. However, this rarely happens, as most clubs do not meet the requirements for budget and seating capacity.
Kaunas Sports Hall, also known as the S. Darius and S. Girėnas Hall is the second largest arena of Kaunas, Lithuania. It is the first arena built in the residential Žaliakalnis neighbourhood of Kaunas specially for basketball in Europe and is referred to as a "Mecca of the Lithuanian basketball". The arena's seating capacity is 5,000. Initial seating capacity was 3,500 and the other spectators used to have standing room. Its length is 62.8 m (206 ft) and its width is 61 m (200 ft). It is a part of the S. Darius and S. Girėnas sport center, which also includes the nearby national stadium.
TV3 Lithuania is a Lithuanian free-to-air television channel that was launched on 11 April 1993. It was owned by Modern Times Group (MTG) until 2017, when it was acquired by Providence Equity Partners for €115 million.
The Lithuania women's national basketball team represents Lithuania in international women's basketball competitions. They are regulated by the Lithuanian Basketball Federation, the governing body for basketball in Lithuania.
Žalgirio Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New Town of Kaunas, Lithuania. The arena is located on an island of the Nemunas River and is the largest indoor arena in the Baltics. The arena's maximum possible seating capacity for basketball games is 15,415, and 22,500 spectators for concerts. The Žalgiris Arena replaced the Kaunas Sports Hall as a major venue in the city.
The Lithuanian A Lyga 2009 was the 20th season of top-tier football in Lithuania. The season started on 4 April 2009 and ended on 31 October 2009. Ekranas successfully defended their title.
The Lietuvos krepšinio lyga (LKL) Finals is the championship finals series for the top-tier level professional club basketball league in Lithuania, the LKL, and the conclusion of the league's postseason. The Finals have been played in either a best-of-seven, or a best-of five format. The first LKL Finals series was held in 1994, and was contested by Žalgiris and Atletas, with Žalgiris winning the series 3–1.
Basketball is the most popular sport in Lithuania. During public opinion polls in Lithuania, the Lithuanians regularly describe basketball as their priority interest sport. A research in 2015 indicated that nearly 41% of all population in Lithuania watched the EuroBasket 2015 final between Lithuania and Spain and it became the most watched event of the 21st century in Lithuania. The popularity of basketball among Lithuanians led to it being nicknamed as the "second religion" in Lithuania.
Viktor Raskov is a Ukrainian former footballer who played as a forward. He was most recently the head coach for FC Continentals in the Canadian Soccer League.
The Women's Baltic Football League is an international women's football confronting the two top teams in Estonia's Meistriliiga, Latvia's Sieviešu Ligas and Lithuania's A Lyga within a round robin format, with no fixtures between both teams from each country. It was first played in 2017, from June to September.
The 2018–19 Lietuvos krepšinio lyga, also called Betsafe-LKL for sponsorship reasons, was the 26th season of the top-tier level professional basketball league of Lithuania, the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga (LKL). The Betsafe LKL championship started on 22 September 2018 and ended on 1 June 2019.
The 2019–20 Lietuvos krepšinio lyga, also called Betsafe-LKL for sponsorship reasons, was the 27th season of the top-tier level professional basketball league of Lithuania, the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga (LKL). On 13 March 2020, season was ended prematurely because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Justė Veronika Jocytė is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for Lyon ASVEL women's club of the Ligue Féminine de Basketball and its youth academy. She plays at the shooting guard and small forward positions.
The 2021 LKL Playoffs featured the eight best teams of the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga (LKL) basketball league in Lithuania, competing for the championship spot. This will be the LKL playoffs' 26th edition. Žalgiris achieved their 23rd title overall, eleven consecutive.
FK Kauno Žalgiris is futsal club from Kaunas, Lithuania. The club has been dominating Lithuanian Futsal A Lyga and the Lithuanian Futsal Cup in the recent years. The club is a regular to the main round of the UEFA Futsal Champions League, reaching the #9 in the top European club ranking at the end of 2020-21 season. The club was known as FK Vytis futsal before an acquisition by basketball and football club Kauno Žalgiris in 2021.
The 2022–23 Lietuvos krepšinio lyga, also called Betsafe-LKL for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th season of the top-tier level professional basketball league of Lithuania, the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga (LKL). Rytas were defending champions, however, they finished as a runners-up, losing finals series to eventual champions Žalgiris.
The 2024–25 Moterų Lietuvos krepšinio lyga season, also called Smart Way–MLKL for sponsorship reasons, is the 22nd season of the women top-tier level professional basketball league of Lithuania, the Moterų Lietuvos Krepšinio Lyga (MLKL). Kibirkštis are defending champions.