B.LEAGUE Signs MOU With Germany Basketball Bundesliga To Drive Further Growth
(Press Release)
The agreement establishes cooperation in player development, promotion, and business expansion for an initial term of up to five years
The Japan Professional Basketball League (Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo; Chairman: Shinji Shimada; hereinafter referred to as "B.LEAGUE") is pleased to announce that it has entered a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Basketball Bundesliga GmbH, the professional basketball league of Germany (hereinafter “BBL”), for an initial term of up to five years. Through this agreement, both leagues aim to further their development on and off the court, encompassing both sporting and business aspects.
Germany is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading basketball nations. The German national team captured its first-ever title at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, went on to win FIBA EuroBasket 2025, and as of December 2025 is ranked second in the FIBA World Ranking, behind only the United States. BBL has produced numerous players who are active in the NBA, including Dennis Schröder and Franz Wagner, and is highly regarded for its player development system. Through the signing of this MOU, B.LEAGUE and BBL will work together toward mutual growth, focusing on the following three pillars of cooperation:
1. Elite Player Development.
The two leagues will create opportunities for top B.LEAGUE players and youth players to challenge themselves in BBL’s highly competitive environment. Specific initiatives include inviting BBL club teams to participate in the “B.LEAGUE GLOBAL INVITATIONAL” held in Japan, as well as the participation of a BBL youth team in the “INFRONEER B.LEAGUE U18 INTERNATIONAL CUP 2026” held next month. In addition, young players are expected to take part in development camps, scrimmages, and other programs held in Germany. Through these exchanges, both leagues aim to raise their overall competitive standards.
2. Media/Cross Promotion
The leagues will promote mutual marketing initiatives, including cross-engagement on social media platforms, consideration of appointing ambassadors to promote both leagues, and the organization of basketball clinics and other community outreach activities, thereby strengthening joint promotional efforts.
3. Commercial
Both leagues will explore opportunities to expand commercial channels, including merchandise sales leveraging each league’s brand, as well as sponsorships and media rights. In addition, the leagues will examine the potential for broadcasting B.LEAGUE games in Germany through BBL’s distribution platforms.
Comment by Dr. Stefan Holz, CEO Basketball Bundesliga
We are proud and honored to announce this cooperation between B.LEAGUE and Basketball Bundesliga (BBL). We greatly appreciate that B.LEAGUE has decided to collaborate with us - as the first European league, and almost exactly one year after B.LEAGUE has announced its cooperation with the NBA during the All Star Game Weekend 2025. Visiting this event in Funabashi, I was deeply impressed – not only by the highest level of presentation of this specific event itself, but also by the development of professional basketball in Japan in general, in all its dimensions – in terms of sport, commercial, and media exposure. We are very much looking forward to exploring the opportunities in several areas to further grow our fantastic sport in both Japan and Germany by a collaboration of two leagues which fit well together in their ambition.
Comment by Shinji Shimada, Chairman B.LEAGUE
B.LEAGUE has entered a new Memorandum of Understanding with Germany’s Basketball Bundesliga (BBL). German basketball has demonstrated one of the highest competitive standards in the world, as evidenced by its outstanding achievements, including winning the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 and the FIBA EuroBasket 2025.
As a historic league celebrating its 60th anniversary, BBL has also delivered remarkable results in player development. For B.LEAGUE, which continues to pursue further evolution with the ambition of producing five NBA players, we are confident that this partnership will provide invaluable learning opportunities. Beyond the on-court activities, we also aim to generate strong synergies in business operations and to work together toward the continued growth and development of both leagues.
About Basketball Bundesliga
Basketball Bundesliga (easyCredit BBL), the top-tier men’s basketball league in Germany with 18 teams, is one of the leading professional basketball leagues in Europe - and today the league of the reigning both World Champion (World Cup 2023) and continental European Champion (Eurobasket 2025): the national team of Germany. All players who won those titles have their roots in BBL, actually playing there, or having played there (before going to the NBA, for example), had their first professional minutes, and/or coming out of the youth academies of our clubs. Basis is a close and trustful cooperation between us and our Federation DBB, following a clear mutual strategic plan. In this season 2025/2026 BBL is celebrating its 60th anniversary
Official website：www.easycredit-bbl.de