BCL featured in latest edition of International Basketball Migration Report issued by CIES and FIBA

The International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) and FIBA have come together to produce the sixth edition of the International Basketball Migration Report (IBMR), a seasonal insight into the migratory trends and tendencies of the sport.

This latest edition of the report - which covers the 2016-17 basketball season (July 1, 2016-June 30, 2017) - makes the most of the highly-productive and outstanding fusion of FIBA's data and insight into international transfers and the renowned analytical expertise of the CIES Observatory to showcase the patterns of the international migration of players.

Click here to download the full report.

Some of the main findings are:

Basketball Champions League included for first time

This sixth edition of the IBMR includes analysis of the Basketball Champions League - the innovative 50-50 joint partnership between FIBA and 10 top European leagues - after it had its inaugural campaign in 2016-17.

The league counts among its fundamental pillars the fact of being a truly European club competition and placing the promotion of the continent's players at its very heart. This is reflected in the implementation across-the-board for the first time in European basketball of a home-grown eligibility rule, i.e. based on where a player was developed.

Record number of international transfers

The number of international transfers during the 2016-17 season was an all-time high 8,737 - an increase of 456 over the previous campaign.

The USA remain the most represented nationality of international transfers with an increase of almost four percent on the previous season.

The number of foreign players within national leagues and the diversity of nationalities has grown to 44.6 percent, a 2.7 percent increase on 2015-16.

Increase of international players in NBA

A couple of landmarks were set in the world’s biggest league during the 2016-17 season:

• For the first time, one in every four players was an international player;
• The number of different nationalities reached an all-time high of 42.

Playing time and development opportunities for U21 players must be addressed

Minutes played by U21 players remain broadly unchanged compared to what they have been in previous years. China is where young players are given the most playing time, with an average 11.9 minutes per game.

An encouraging increase has occurred in Argentina, where the figure has gone from 24.5 percent to 30.3 percent thanks to the introduction of regulations aimed at getting the most out of young talent.

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CIES - The International Centre for Sports Studies
Creating an impact on the way sport is managed worldwide

The International Centre for Sport Studies (CIES) is an independent study centre located in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. It was created as a foundation in 1995 by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the University of Neuchâtel and the City and State of Neuchâtel.

Using a multi-disciplinary approach (law, sociology, geography, history and management), CIES provides research, top-level education and consulting services to the world of sport. For further information visit cies.ch.