The Basketball Champions League is set to enter its 10th season. It is an annual top-tier professional basketball competition for European clubs, organised by FIBA. The champion participates in the FIBA Intercontinental Cup.
Clubs qualify for the Basketball Champions League mostly based on performance in their national leagues and cup competitions.
The draw for the Basketball Champions League Season X will take place on Wednesday, July 2 at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Basketball Champions League: Qualification Round Tournaments
Twenty-four (24) teams will compete in three (3) Qualification Round Tournaments, one of which belongs to the champions of the countries not represented in the Regular Season (Champions Path), while the other two include the rest of the teams that are vying for qualification.
The three Qualification Round tournaments will take place end of September.
The teams in the Qualification Round tournaments of Basketball Champions League Season X are seeded as follows:
Champions Path (Qualification Round Tournaments 1)
Pot 1: Bakken Bears (DEN), Patrioti Levice (SVK)
Pot 2: Heroes Den Bosch (NED), Kalev/Cramo (EST)
Pot 3: Rilski Sportist (BUL), Trepca (KOS),
Pot 4: Kutaisi 2010 (GEO), Petrolina AEK Larnaca (CYP)
Qualification Round Tournaments 2 and 3
Pot 1: Falco Szombathely (HUN), Pallacanestro Reggiana (ITA), PAOK mateco (GRE), UCAM Murcia (ESP)
Pot 2: Bursaspor Basketbol (TUR), CSM CSU Oradea (ROU), Fribourg Olympic Basket (SUI), Karhu Basket Kauhajoki (FIN)
Pot 3: Elan Chalon (FRA), Lowen Braunschweig (GER), Uniclub Bet Juventus Utena (LTU), Windrose Giants Antwerp (BEL)
Pot 4: FC Porto (POR), Pelister Bitola (MKD), PGE Start Lublin (POL), SC Derby (MNE)
All three Qualification Round Tournaments will be played in single-game elimination format, starting from the Quarter-Finals. The teams from Pot 1 will face teams from Pot 4, while teams in Pot 2 will be up against teams from Pot 3.
The three Qualification Round Tournaments winners will advance to the Regular Season.
Also Read: FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027: Confirmed Draw For Qualifiers
Basketball Champions League: Regular Season
The Regular Season will feature eight groups of four teams.
For the purpose of the draw, the twenty-nine directly qualified teams and the three Qualification Round tournaments winners will be divided into four pots of eight teams each.
The pots at the Basketball Champions League are based on the BCL Club Rankings and the BCL Country Rankings.
The Regular Season teams are seeded as follows:
Pot 1: AEK Betsson BC (GRE), ALBA BERLIN (GER), Dreamland Gran Canaria (ESP), Galatasaray MCT Technic (TUR), Joventut Badalona (ESP), La Laguna Tenerife (ESP), Rytas Vilnius (LTU), Unicaja (ESP)
Pot 2: ERA Nymburk (CZE), Filou Oostende (BEL), Hapoel Netanel Holon (ISR), Igokea m:tel (BIH), Promitheas Patras Vikos Cola (GRE), SL Benfica (POR), Tofas Bursa (TUR), VEF Riga (LAT)
Pot 3: Bnei Penlink Herzliya (ISR), Cholet Basket (FRA), FIT/One Würzburg Baskets (GER), Legia Warszawa (POL), Le Mans Sarthe Basket (FRA), Mersin Sports Club (TUR), NHSZ-Szolnoki Olajbanyasz (HUN), Sabah BC (AZE)
Pot 4: Karditsa Iaponiki (GRE), KK Spartak Office Shoes (SRB), MLP Academics Heidelberg (GER), Pallacanestro Trieste (ITA), Trapani Shark (ITA), QRT Winner 1, QRT Winner 2, QRT Winner 3
Play-In series and Round of 16 groups
There will be no additional draw for the Play-Ins and the Round of 16.
The second- and third-placed teams in adjacent Regular Season groups will face each other in best-of-three Play-In series (A2 v B3, B2 v A3; C2 v D3, D2 v C3; E2 v F3, F2 v E3; G2 v H3, H2 v G3), and the winners of each pairing will feed into a predetermined Round of 16 group:
Group I: A1, E1, C2/D3, G2/H3
Group J: B1, F1, D2/C3, H2/G3
Group K: C1, G1, B2/A3, E2/F3
Group L: D1, H1, A2/B3, F2/E3
Draw restrictions: Country protection applies to the Regular Season stage of the Draw, meaning that clubs cannot be drawn in the same group with another club from their country.
The 2024-25 Regular Season will get underway on October 7, 2025.
