| 2019–20 BBL season | |
| Pixels: | 140px |
| League: | British Basketball League |
| Season: | 2019–20 |
| League Champs: | No champions declared[1] |
| Continentalcup1: | BBL Cup |
| Continentalcup2: | BBL Trophy |
| Teams: | 12 |
| Games: | 73 |
| Seasonslist: | List of BBL seasons |
| Seasonslistnames: | BBL |
| Prevseason Year: | 2018–19 |
| Nextseason Year: | 2020–21 |
The 2019–20 BBL season was the 33rd campaign of the British Basketball League, the top British professional basketball league, since its in 1987. The season featured 12 teams from across England and Scotland. On 17 March 2020, the season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. On 1 June 2020, the season was cancelled, with no League or Playoffs champions declared.[2]
The 2019–20 season saw a significantly revamped format for the first time in a number of years.[3]
The newly-formatted BBL Cup began the 2019–20 season in September, with group stages (2 geographical groups, North and South, of 6 teams each) to determine 8 teams to progress to the Quarter-finals. Single-legged quarter finals and two-legged semi finals matches would determine the two finalists to contest the Cup final.
The Championship would run from December to April. All 12 teams were to play each other twice, once home once away, for a 22-game regular season (as opposed to previous years where teams would play each other 3 times for a 33-game regular season). The top 8 teams would qualify for the end of season Playoffs.
The Playoffs were due to run from April to May and for the first time in 21 years were due to be determined over a best-of-three series. The Playoffs Final would once again be held at the O2 Arena, London.
| Team | City | Arena | Capacity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol Flyers | Bristol | SGS WISE Arena | ||
| Cheshire Phoenix | Ellesmere Port | Cheshire Oaks Arena | ||
| Radisson RED Glasgow Rocks | Glasgow | Emirates Arena | ||
| Leicester Riders | Leicester | Morningside Arena | ||
| London City Royals | London | Crystal Palace NSC | ||
| London Lions | London | Copper Box | ||
| Manchester Giants | Manchester | George H. Carnall Centre | ||
| Newcastle Eagles | Newcastle upon Tyne | Eagles Community Arena | ||
| Plymouth Raiders | Plymouth | Plymouth Pavilions | ||
| B.Braun Sheffield Sharks | Sheffield | Ponds Forge | ||
| Surrey Scorchers | Guildford | Surrey Sports Park | ||
| Worcester Wolves | Worcester | University of Worcester Arena |
| Team | Head coach | Captain | Main jersey sponsor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol Flyers |  Andreas Kapoulas[4] | Daniel Edozie[5] | Toogood International | |
| Cheshire Phoenix | Ben Thomas |  Momčilo Latinović | Hillyer McKeown | |
| Radisson RED Glasgow Rocks |  Vincent Lavandier[6] | Gareth Murray[7] | Carling | |
| Leicester Riders |  Rob Paternostro | Andrew Thomson[8] | Jelson Homes | |
| London City Royals | Lloyd Gardner[9] | Orlan Jackman | ||
| London Lions | Vince Macaulay[10] | Joe Ikhinmwin[11] | ||
| Manchester Giants | Danny Byrne[12] | Callum Jones | Space | |
| Newcastle Eagles | Ian McLeod | Rahmon Fletcher | ESH Group | |
| Plymouth Raiders | Paul James[13] |  Josh Wilcher | ||
| B.Braun Sheffield Sharks | Atiba Lyons[14] |  Mike Tuck | B.Braun | |
| Surrey Scorchers |  Creon Raftopoulos[15] | Tayo Ogedengbe[16] | Gidden Place | |
| Worcester Wolves | Matthew Newby | Maarten Bouwknecht | University of Worcester |
| Team | Outgoing coach | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming coach | Date of appointment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worcester Wolves | Tony Garbelotto | End of Interim[17] | 1 May 2019 | Pre-season | Matthew Newby | 22 July 2019[18] | |
| London City Royals | Jay Williams | Released [19] | 12 August 2019 | Pre-season | Lloyd Gardner | 16 August 2019 | |
| Newcastle Eagles | Fabulous Flournoy | Signed by Toronto Raptors[20] | 3 September 2019 | Pre-season | Ian McLeod | 6 September 2019 [21] |
The newly-formatted BBL Cup began the 2019–20 season on Friday 20 September, with the group stages running until Sunday 24 November. The 12 teams were split into 2 geographical groups, North and South. Each team played each other twice (once home, once away) with the top 4 teams in each group progressing to the Quarter-finals. Single-legged quarter finals and two-legged semi finals matches determined the two finalists to contest the Cup final on Sunday 26 January at the Arena Birmingham.
The BBL Championship ran from Friday 6 December – Tuesday 17 March. All 12 teams were scheduled to play each other twice, once home once away, for a 22-game regular season. On 24 January 2020, London City Royals withdrew from the league,[22] and their 1–3 record was expunged.
On 17 March 2020, the season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. On 1 June 2020, the season was cancelled, with no League or Playoffs champions declared.[2]
The BBL Playoffs were due to run from Friday 24 April – Sunday 17 May, with the final to be held at the O2 Arena, London. The top 8 teams from the regular season of the BBL Championship would have contested the Playoffs, which for the first time in 21 years were to be determined over a best-of-three series.
The BBL Trophy retained the same format as introduced in the 2018–19 season. The twelve BBL teams were joined in the first round draw by four invited teams; Solent Kestrels and Worthing Thunder from the English Basketball League, Dunfermline Reign from the Scottish Basketball Championship and Basketball Wales. There was an open draw to form a bracket, mapping out each team's path to the final which was held, for the 8th consecutive year, at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow.
No British clubs participated in European competition for the 2019–20 season. Leicester and London both declined their invitations from FIBA.[23]