Prior to 2012, in the 29 editions played of the Liga ACB, only three teams declined promotion, due to acting as reserve teams or for lack of funds: CB Guadalajara and CB Cornellà in 1993 and CB Cajabilbao in 1994.
Since 2012, due to the 2008–2014 Spanish financial crisis, only two teams (Canarias and Andorra) of a possible 10 could promote to Liga ACB. This started a discussion about the promotion requirements of the ACB, considered by the LEB Oro clubs as "disproportionate". [5]
For clubs that promote and would make their debut in the ACB demands: [6]
- An arena with a minimum capacity of 5,000 seats.
- An inbound of €3m. For clubs that return to the league after a promotion, an update of the inbound is demanded.
- A deposit of €1.7m that would be returned in case of relegation to LEB Oro. In case of a new promotion, this deposit is required to be restored.
- Conversion into a Sociedad Anónima Deportiva if the club remains in Liga ACB after its first season.
In 2012, Iberostar Canarias and Menorca Bàsquet achieved promotion to ACB, but neither could fulfill the requirements in order to promote. [7] However, Canarias finally played in ACB after buying the berth in the league of Lucentum Alicante, previously sold to the association. [8]
In 2013, neither CB Atapuerca, Ford Burgos by sponsorship reasons, nor Lucentum Alicante could promote. The latter resigned also to play in the second league and joined the fifth division.
In 2014 and 2015, CB Tizona, also Ford Burgos by sponsorship reasons, did not promote despite achieving the place two years in a row. After its second failed promotion, the third in the city of Burgos, the club sued the Association [5] and accused it of "distorting the reality". [9] Also in 2015, despite having played in the league during the 1980s and 1990s, Club Ourense Baloncesto was not admitted into the league despite fulfilling all the requirements, after not passing an accounts audit. [10] However, ACB would admit Ourense for the 2016–17 season if it fulfilled the requirements regardless of their position in the 2015–16 LEB Oro season. [11]
On 24 April 2016, the National Commission of the Markets and the Competence argued that the inbound impedes, in an "unjustified, disproportionate and discriminatory" way, access of new clubs to Liga ACB. [12]
In June 2016, the two promoted teams from LEB Oro (Palencia and Melilla) resigned promotion to the 2016–17 ACB season and requested to the ACB their sign-in before the 2017–18 season. However, as Gipuzkoa Basket, who finished in relegation positions in three of the last four seasons, resigned from ACB, [13] the Association offered again its place to Palencia and Melilla under these conditions: [14] [15]
- An arena with a minimum capacity of 5,000 seats.
- An inbound of €2m. The second million delayed on the dates agreed between the club and ACB.
- A deposit of €1.6m that would be returned in case of relegation to LEB Oro. In case of a new promotion, this deposit is required to be restored.
- Conversion into a Sociedad Anónima Deportiva before the start of their second season in Liga ACB.
Palencia and Mellila refused the invitation, to reinforce their position against the inbound to play in the league. [16] [17]
In April 2017, the National Commission for Markets and Competition declared the entering inbound and the deposit for the regulation of promotions and relegations as illegal, as they consider it "unjustified, discriminatory and excessive" and imposed a fine of €400,000 to the ACB. [18] [19] [20] Subsequently, the ACB replied that it would appeal the decision of the CNMC, contending that it infringed on the self-organizing capacity of professional leagues, as recognized in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and in the European jurisprudence, and which was unprecedented in Europe and in the rest of the world. [21] [22]
In May 2017, the ACB filed a contentious-administrative appeal and request for precautionary measures before the National Court, on the occasion of the resolution of the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC), as well as to refuse any resolution or decision, present or future, which relates to that act. Also, the ACB approved to establish a negotiation plan with the CSD and the FEB regarding the number of participating teams and the conditions to access to the competition in the next seasons. [23] [24]
In June 2017, the ACB agreed not to require the promotion requirements that have been the subject of the resolution (entering inbound and the deposit for the regulation of promotions and relegations) and the participation fee. Also, the ACB agreed to continue negotiations with the CSD, the FEB and the CNMC to try to establish by mutual agreement new conditions for promotion. In view of the possibility of reaching an agreement that establishes economic and financial requirements in a consensual way before 5 July, the Assembly agreed to establish two new access criteria, provided that there was no pronouncement of the National Court on the precautionary measures regarding the resolution of the National Court, nor agreement with the different bodies that replace it. [25] These conditions were:
- A deposit of €1.9m that would be returned in case of relegation to LEB Oro, guaranteeing at least the value contributed by the clubs in their moment of promotion.
- A minimum budget (for all clubs) of €2.3m to play in the league.
On 10 July 2017, the ACB ratified the agreement with the FEB endorsed by the CSD, to change the conditions to make them easier for promoted teams from LEB Oro. The ACB had also reached a principle of agreement with FEB and CSD regarding a reduction of competition to 16 clubs in 2019 and the model of promotions and relegations in the coming seasons. However, this text has not obtained the necessary support of the clubs in the General Assembly and has not been approved, agreeing to continue the negotiations to find the model of competition appropriate to the interests of the teams overall. [26] These new conditions consist of:
- A deposit of €1.6 million, to be paid over four seasons, that would be returned in case of relegation to LEB Oro, guaranteeing at least the value contributed by the clubs in their moment of promotion.
- A minimum budget (for all clubs) of €2 million to play in the league.
Ten days later and two years after the denounce of CB Tizona, Gipuzkoa Basket and CB Miraflores, also from Burgos, were promoted to Liga ACB. These were the first promotions since the Andorra in 2014. Also, Miraflores became the first team to make its debut in ACB since 2009.
2024–25 ACB season 
