| Organising body | Dutch Basketball League Pro Basketball League |
|---|---|
| Founded | December 10, 2020; 4 years ago (2020-12-10) |
| First season | 2021–22 |
| Country | |
| Confederation | |
| Number of teams | 18 |
| Level on pyramid | 1 |
| Domestic cup(s) | Basketball Cup (Netherlands) Basketball Cup (Belgium) |
| Supercup | BNXT Supercup Dutch Supercup |
| International cup(s) | Champions League FIBA Europe Cup |
| Current champions | Kangoeroes Basket Mechelen (1st title) |
| Most championships | ZZ Leiden (2 titles) |
| CEO | Wim Van de Keere |
| President | Ramses Braakman |
| TV partners | bnxt |
| Website | bnxtleague |
TheBNXT League is a professionalbasketball league in Belgium and the Netherlands. The league is the first tier in both the Dutch and Belgian system, replacing theDBL andPBL. The inaugural season was the2021–22 season, which started in September 2021.
On 10 December 2020, it was announced that the BelgianPro Basketball League andDutch Basketball League would merge to form a new multinational league.[1] All clubs from the Dutch DBL voted for, while 9 of 10 teams in Belgium voted in favor of the decision. Serious talks about the initiative had been ongoing since fall 2019.[2] On 20 May 2021, the new name "BNXT League" and logo of the league were announced.[3]
The league started itsinaugural season amidst anongoing COVID-19 pandemic and a great number of games had to be played behind locked doors as a result of national lockdowns.[4] On 11 June 2022,ZZ Leiden were crowned the inaugural BNXT champions.[5] The following year, on 13 June 2023, Leiden repeated as champions.
On 10 September 2021, the league announced its first name sponsorship when Belgianbetting company betFirst signed to become naming sponsor for three seasons.[6]
From 2021–22 to 2023–24, the league consisted of different stages. In the first stage, teams played each other home and away in the national regular season. After this, the teams were divided in the Elite Gold and Elite Silver group for the cross-border season. Next, the teams from the Elite Gold and the 3 best teams from the Elite Silver played in the national playoffs to compete for the national championships. The two winners of the national playoffs then played in the BNXT League Final.[1]
Starting from the 2024–25 season, the league will have a new format in which all 19 teams play each other home and away in the regular season. The highest ranked teams from each country play national playoffs, and the two national winners play for the BNXT championship.[7]
The following 18 teams will play in the 2025-26 season. All teams from thePro Basketball League andDutch Basketball League transferred to the BNXT League in 2021. The newest club to have joined the BNXT League are theKortrijk Spurs, who joined in 2023.
| Club | Location | Venue | Capacity | Founded | National titles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antwerp | Lotto Arena | 5,218 | 1995 | 1 | |
| Weert | Sporthal Boshoven | 1,000 | 2013 | – | |
| Brussels | Neder-Over-Heembeek complex | 1,500 | 1958 | – | |
| Den Helder | Sporthal Quelderduijn | 1,250 | 2016 | – | |
| Groningen | MartiniPlaza | 4,350 | 1951 | 7 | |
| Rotterdam | Topsportcentrum Rotterdam | 2,500 | 1954 | – | |
| 's-Hertogenbosch | Maaspoort | 2,800 | 1952 | 18 | |
| Mechelen | Winketkaai | 1,500 | 2009 | – | |
| Kortrijk | Lange Munte | 2,400 | 2019 | – | |
| Zwolle | Landstede Sportcentrum | 1,200 | 1995 | 1 | |
| Leuven | Sportoase | 3,400 | 1999 | – | |
| Hasselt | Alverberg Sporthal | 1,730 | 2014 | – | |
| Leeuwarden | Kalverdijkje | 1,700 | 2004 | – | |
| Mons | Mons Arena | 4,000 | 1959 | – | |
| Aalst | Okapi Forum | 2,800 | 1949 | – | |
| Ostend | Sleuyter Arena | 5,000 | 1970 | 25 | |
| Charleroi | Spiroudome | 6,200 | 1989 | 10 | |
| Leiden | Sportcomplex 1574 | 2,435 | 1958 | 5 |
| Club | Location | Venue | Capacity | Founded | Seasons | Last season |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amsterdam | Apollohal | 1,500 | 2011 | 2 | 2022–23 | |
| Liège | Country Hall | 5,000 | 1967 | 3 | 2023–24 | |
| Bemmel | De Kooi | 650 | 2020 | 4 | 2024–25 | |
| The Hague | Sportcampus Zuiderpark | 3,500 | 2020 | 1 | 2021–22 |
The finals were played in a two-legged format in 2022, after that season the format was changed to a best-of-three playoffs series. Since the2024–25 season, the BNXT League championship has been awarded to the club that finishes first in the regular season.
| Season | Champions | Score | Runners-up | Finals MVP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021–22 | ZZ Leiden | 146–142 (75–72,71–70) | Donar | Worthy de Jong |
| 2022–23 | ZZ Leiden (2) | 2–1 | Oostende | David Collins |
| 2023–24 | Oostende | 164–124 (85–58,79–66) | ZZ Leiden | Damien Jefferson |
| 2024–25 | Kangoeroes Basket Mechelen | — | House of Talents Spurs | — |
| Season | Champions | Score | Runners-up | Finals MVP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021–22 | Heroes Den Bosch | 3–2 | ZZ Leiden | Thomas van der Mars |
| 2022–23 | ZZ Leiden | 3–2 | Donar | Thomas Rutherford |
| 2023–24 | ZZ Leiden | 3–1 | Heroes Den Bosch | Brock Gardner |
| 2024–25 | Heroes Den Bosch | 3–0 | ZZ Leiden | Le'Tre Darthard |
| Season | Champions | Score | Runners-up | Finals MVP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021–22 | Oostende | 3–1 | Kangoeroes Mechelen | Keye van der Vuurst de Vries |
| 2022–23 | Oostende | 3–1 | Antwerp Giants | Vrenz Bleijenbergh |
| 2023–24 | Oostende | 3–1 | Antwerp Giants | Damien Jefferson |
| 2024–25 | Oostende | 3–1 | Kangoeroes Mechelen | Timmy Allen |