| Dutch Basketball League | |
| Pixels: | 140 |
| Country: | Netherlands |
| Confed: | FIBA Europe |
| Formerly: | Eredivisie (1960–2010) |
| First: | 1960–61 |
| Successor: | BNXT League |
| Folded: | 2021 |
| Teams: | 12 |
| Levels: | 1 |
| Supercup: | Dutch Supercup |
| Confed Cup: | Basketball Champions League FIBA Europe Cup |
| Champions: | ZZ Leiden (5th title) |
| Season: | 2022–23 |
| Most Champs: | Heroes Den Bosch (17 titles) |
| Top Scorer: | Kees Akerboom Sr. (9,878 points) |
The Dutch Basketball League (DBL), formerly the Eredivisie, was the highest professional basketball league in the Netherlands, run by the Federatie Eredivisie Basketball (FEB).[1] Since 2021, the league has been replaced by the Belgian-Dutch BNXT League.[2]
The league had a closed system: to participate, a team has to have enough money and potential. The league began in 1960 as the Eredivisie and was organized by the NBB and later the FEB. In 1977 the league introduced play-offs. As of 2019, the Dutch Basketball League consists of ten teams and plays under the FIBA rules.
Starting with the 2010–11 season, the Eredivisie changed its name to the Dutch Basketball League, shortly the DBL. The beginning of the 2010s saw Donar and ZZ Leiden emerge as top teams in the Netherlands. Donar won five titles, including three straight (2015–2018). The decade also saw clubs disappear due to financial problems, with Amsterdam in 2011,[3] West-Brabant Giants in 2011,[4] Magixx in 2014.[5] [6] The decade also saw the emergence of new clubs in Apollo Amsterdam and Den Helder Suns.
In Europe, Donar had one of the biggest successes in Dutch history after reaching the semi-finals of the 2017–18 FIBA Europe Cup. It was the first European semi-final of a team since Amsterdam in 2001.
In December 2019, it was announced that the DBL has partnered with the Belgian Pro Basketball League (PBL) to look at the potential of a future "BeNe League".[7] The 2019–20 season was cancelled prematurely in March because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[8] It was the first time in league history that a season was not finished and no champions were named. Due to the pandemic, entry requirements for the following season were lowered which led to the entrance of Basketball Community Gelderland, The Hague Royals and Almere Sailors.
Each team has to play all the other teams in the league four times, twice at home and twice away. This means that the league's regular season ends after all teams play 36 matches. Like many other national domestic leagues in continental Europe, the Dutch Basketball League takes a winter break once each team has played half of its scheduled games.
At the end of the league season schedule, the eight best teams in the standings play in a play-off, pitting the first place team in the standings versus the eighth place team in the standings, and so on. The quarter finals are played in a best-of-three format and the semi-finals are played in a best-of-five format, and the finals are played in a best-of-seven format.
In seasons were the number of teams dropped to 9 or lower, six teams qualified for the playoffs. In this case, the numbers one and two qualified for the semifinals and the other four teams played the quarterfinals.
The DBL has had many rules in place to restrict the number of foreign players of clubs. This way the league seek to keep developing Dutch talent in the league. For several seasons.Until 2019, teams in the DBL were not allowed to have more than four players without a Dutch passport in their on court team at the same time.
As of the end of the 2020–21 season:
| Club | City | Arena | Capacity | 1st season in DBL | No. of seasons in DBL | DBL titles | Last title |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Almere Sailors | Almere | Topsportcentrum Almere | 2020–21 | 1 | – | – | |
| Apollo Amsterdam | Amsterdam | Apollohal | 2012–13 | 8 | – | – | |
| Aris Leeuwarden | Leeuwarden | Kalverdijkje | 2004–05 | 16 | – | – | |
| BAL | Weert | Sporthal Boshoven | 2017–18 | 4 | – | – | |
| Heroes Den Bosch | 's-Hertogenbosch | Maaspoort | 1962–63 | 54 | 16 | 2015 | |
| Den Helder Suns | Den Helder | Sporthal Sportlaan | 1981–82 | 29 | 6 | 1998 | |
| Donar | Groningen | MartiniPlaza | 1970–71 | 51 | 7 | 2018 | |
| Feyenoord | Rotterdam | Topsportcentrum | 1988–89 | 32 | – | – | |
| Landstede Hammers | Zwolle | Landstede Sportcentrum | 1995–96 | 25 | 1 | 2019 | |
| The Hague Royals | The Hague | Sportcampus Zuiderpark | 2020–21 | 1 | – | – | |
| Yoast United | Bemmel | De Schaapskooi | 2020–21 | 1 | – | – | |
| ZZ Leiden | Leiden | Vijf Meihal | 1967–68 | 31 | 4 | 2021 | |
The following is the timeline of the teams in the Dutch Basketball League era (since 2011).
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| Club | City | Current league | First season in DBL | Most recent season in DBL | Seasons in DBL | DBL titles | Last DBL title | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agon Amsterdam / Racing Agona | Amsterdam | 1961–62 | 1972–73 | 12 | – | – | ||
| Almere Pioneers | 1998–99 | 2006–07 | 9 | – | – | |||
| Amsterdam Basketball | – | 1995–96 | 2010–11 | 15 | 7 | 2009 | ||
| AMVJ | Amsterdam | Regional | 1966–67 | 1 | – | – | ||
| ASVU | Amstelveen | – | 1963–64 | 1974–75 | 5 | – | – | |
| GOBA | Regional levels | 1990–91 | 1995–96 | 4 | – | – | ||
| Blue Starsa | Diemen | Regional | 1960–61 | 1975–76 | 13 | 1 | 1970 | |
| BSW | – | 1982–83 | 2016–17 | 24 | 1 | 1994 | ||
| BVG | 1979–80 | 1 | – | – | ||||
| Landlust / Canadians Amsterdama | Amsterdam | – | 1960–61 | 1992–93 | 32 | 2 | 1963 | |
| C3 Cobra's | – | 2000–01 | 1 | – | – | |||
| DAS Delft | Regional levels | 1986–87 | 1988–89 | 3 | – | – | ||
| DEDa | Amsterdam | Regional | 1960–61 | 1973–74 | 14 | |||
| Dutch Windmills | – | 2018–19 | 1 | – | – | |||
| Dunckers | Hilversum | Regional levels | 1995–96 | 1 | – | – | ||
| EiffelTowers Nijmegen | – | 2000–01 | 2004–05 | 5 | 1 | 2003 | ||
| Herly Amsterdama | Amsterdam | Regional | 1960–61 | 1968–69 | 9 | 1 | 1969 | |
| NAC | – | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2 | – | – | ||
| Magixx | – | 2005–06 | 2013–14 | 9 | – | – | ||
| Monark Amsterdama | Amsterdam | – | 1960–61 | 1963–64 | 4 | – | – | |
| Orca's Urk | Eerste Divisie | 1983–84 | 1990–91 | 8 | – | – | ||
| Puncha | 1960–61 | 1982–83 | 22 | 2 | 1975 | |||
| Eerste Divisie | 1987–88 | 1994–95 | 8 | – | – | |||
| SVE Utrecht | Utrecht | – | 1965–66 | 1970–71 | 6 | 1 | 1967 | |
| Suvrikri | The Hague | – | 1966–67 | 1971–72 | 6 | – | – | |
| The Arrowsa | Rotterdam | – | 1960–61 | 1963–64 | 4 | – | – | |
| The Wolves Amsterdama | – | 1960–61 | 1968–69 | 9 | 5 | 1965 | ||
| Regional levels | 1980–81 | 1986–87 | 8 | – | – | |||
| Typhoons Haarlem | Haarlem | – | 1961–62 | 1 | – | – | ||
| USa | Amstelveen | Regional | 1960–61 | 1966–67 | 6 | – | – | |
| Eerste Divisie | 1983–84 | 2000–01 | 8 | – | – | |||
| West-Brabant Giants | – | 2003–04 | 2010–11 | 8 | – | – | ||
| Wilskracht Amsterdam | Amsterdam | – | 1964–65 | 1969–70 | 6 | – | – | |
| ZBVS Santpoort | – | 1960–61 | 1 | – | – | |||
a: Founding member of the DBL.
See main article: List of Dutch basketball champions.
See main article: List of Dutch Basketball League Finals. The two teams that advance to the Finals of the play-offs play against each other in a best-of-seven playoff format.
Teams shown in italics are no longer in existence. Teams in bold are currently playing in the DBL.
| Club | Wins | Seasons won | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heroes Den Bosch | 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1992–93, 1995–96, 1996–97, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2021–22 | ||
| 8 | 1945–46, 1946–47, 1949–50, 1951–52, 1952–53, 1953–54, 1955–56, 1957–58 | ||
| Amsterdam | 7 | 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2004–05, 2007–08, 2008–09 | |
| Donar | 7 | 1981–82, 2003–04, 2009–10, 2013–14, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18 | |
| 6 | 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1994–95, 1997–98 | ||
| ZZ Leiden | 1977–78, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2020–21, 2022–23 | ||
| The Wolves Amsterdam | 1959–60, 1960–61, 1963–64, 1964–65 | ||
| Flamingo's Haarlem | 1985–86, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73 | ||
| 3 | 1948–49, 1950–51, 1954–55 | ||
| 1958–59, 1969–70 | |||
| Landlust | 1961–62, 1962–63 | ||
| 1968–69, 1974–75 | |||
| 1975–76, 1976–77 | |||
| APGS | 1947–48 | ||
| Herly Amsterdam | 1965–66 | ||
| SVE Utrecht | 1966–67 | ||
| RZ | 1973–74 | ||
| Landstede Hammers | 2018–19 | ||
| BSW Weert | 1993–94 | ||
| Matrixx Magixx | 2002–03 |
The following are the ten players with the most points in the Eredivisie or DBL:[9]
| 1 | 9,878 | 491 | 20.1 | ||
| 2 | 7,810 | 583 | 13.4 | ||
| 3 | 7,385 | 605 | 12.2 | ||
| 4 | 7,262 | 656 | 11.0 | ||
| 5 | 7,119 | 297 | 24.0 | ||
| 6 | 6,842 | 481 | 14.2 | ||
| 7 | 6,338 | 538 | 11.8 | ||
| 8 | 6,099 | 277 | 22.0 | ||
| 9 | 6,000 | 329 | 18.2 | ||
| 10 | 5,943 | 357 | 16.7 | ||
| 11 | 5,943 | 101 | 58.8 | ||
| 11 | 5,942 | 69 | 63.5 |