United Kingdom basketball leagues

Checked 2026-10-31FIBA code GBR

The men's top flight, the British Basketball League, is a franchise league run by the league. There is no promotion or relegation into it, clubs apply for a franchise. The women's top flight is the WBBL, also run by its own league body.

National federation: Basketball England / British Basketball (home nations).

British Basketball League (BBL)

Men's tier 1. Status: Partly sourced.

Run by: British Basketball League · Official site
Teams: 10 · Source
Season: Not yet verified
Foreign player rule: Older league FAQ (from 2020-21): up to 5 non-British players over 18 per game, up to 4 of them work-permitted. Other spots go to British passport holders. Current text not confirmed. · Source
Promotion and relegation: None. Franchise system. NBL clubs cannot move up on results but can apply for a franchise. · Source

Clubs

Single table, 10 clubs listed.

B.Braun Sheffield Sharks · Sheffield
Bristol Flyers · Bristol
Caledonia Gladiators
Cheshire Phoenix
Leicester Riders · Leicester
London Lions · London
Manchester Giants · Manchester
Plymouth City Patriots · Plymouth
Seriös Group Newcastle Eagles · Newcastle
Surrey Scorchers

Source for this club list

The page gives no season for this list, so season is null. It may be the 2024 list. Cities only where the club name has one.

Women's British Basketball League (WBBL)

Women's tier 1. Status: Not yet verified.

Run by: Women's British Basketball League · Official site
Teams: Not yet verified
Season: Not yet verified
Foreign player rule: Not yet verified
Promotion and relegation: Not yet verified

Clubs: Not yet verified.

Old bbl.org.uk FAQ was opened for rules and promotion, the page counted 10 to 11 clubs inconsistently. WBBL pages failed to fetch. Federation site was not on the fetch allowlist so federation src is null. Season months not sourced.

Rules change each season and clubs apply them differently. Confirm any figure with the league or federation before you rely on it. This is education, not legal or tax advice. See a figure that is out of date? Send a correction with the source link.

Next: build your question list for a United Kingdom offer, work out take-home pay or read how overseas contracts work.

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