Baloncesto Profesional Colombiano (Professional Colombian Basketball), currently known as the Liga WPlay de Baloncesto for sponsorship reasons, is the premier professional basketball championship in Colombia.
 | |
| Sport | Basketball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1988 |
| First season | 1988 |
| No. of teams | 10 |
| Country | Colombia |
| Continent | FIBA Americas (Americas) |
| Most recent champion(s) | Titanes de Barranquilla (8th title) (Clausura 2023) |
| Most titles | Titanes de Barranquilla (8 titles) |
| TV partner(s) | DirecTV, Canal Capital, Canal 13, Telecaribe, Telepacífico, TRO, Teleantioquia, Telecafé, Teleislas |
The championship was established in 1992 and is organized by the Federación Colombiana de Baloncesto (in English: Colombian Basketball Federation). The first national semi-professional championship was called Copa Sprite, sponsored by the eponymous soda trademark. This led the participating clubs to the creation of the División Mayor del Baloncesto Colombiano.[1] This way the first championship was created, called Copa Sprite Profesional. In this version the following teams participated: Bogotá-Doria Promasa, Valle-Sensus 2, Antioquia-Sprite, Santander-Terpel, Barranquilla-Junior y Caldas-Ron Viejo de Caldas.[2]
League format
editThe championship consists of three rounds:[3]
- Round Robin: The teams play 24 games each. The four top teams in the end reach the playoffs.
- The playoffs: in a best-of-7 format, the first seed plays against the fourth, and the second seed against the third. The two winning teams play the finals.
- The Finals: The two finalist teams play a best-of-seven-games series.
Teams
editCurrent teams
editThe following teams played in the 2024-I season:
| Team | City | Arena | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caribbean Storm Llaneros | Villavicencio | Coliseo Álvaro Mesa Amaya | 7000 |
| Búcaros de Santander | Bucaramanga | Coliseo Vicente Díaz Romero | 5000 |
| Cimarrones del Chocó | Quibdó | Coliseo "La Caldera" | 4000 |
| Corsarios de Cartagena | Cartagena de Indias | Coliseo Bernardo Caraballo | 1778 |
| Motilones del Norte | Cúcuta | Coliseo Toto Hernández | 5000 |
| Piratas de Bogotá | Bogotá | Coliseo El Salitre | 7000 |
| Titanes de Barranquilla[4] | Barranquilla | Coliseo Elías Chegwin | 3000 |
| Toros del Valle | Cali | Coliseo Evangelista Mora | 3500 |
Former teams
edit| Team | City | Arena | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Águilas | Tunja | Coliseo Municipal de Tunja | 2,500 |
| Bambuqueros | Neiva | Coliseo Álvaro Sánchez Silva | 5,000 |
| Caimanes | Barranquilla | Coliseo Elías Chegwin | 5,000 |
| Caribbean Heat | San Andrés | Coliseo Genie Bay | 5,000 |
| Cimarrones | Quibdó | Coliseo Municipal de Quibdó | 4,000 |
| Cóndores | Tocancipá | Coliseo Municipal de Tocancipá | 4,000 |
| Cangrejeros | Cartagena | Coliseo Bernardo Caraballo | 5,000 |
| Guerreros | Bogotá | Coliseo El Salitre | 7,000 |
| Indervalle | Cali | Coliseo Evangelista Mora | 3,340 |
| Islanders | San Andrés | Coliseo de San Luis | 3,000 |
| Halcones | Cúcuta | Coliseo Toto Hernández | 5,000 |
| Sabios | Manizales | Coliseo Jorge Arango Uribe | 5,000 |
| Llaneros | Villavicencio | Coliseo Alvaro Mesa Amaya | 4,000 |
| Los Pastos | Pasto | Coliseo Sergio Antonio Ruano | 4,000 |
| Marinos | Cartagena | Coliseo Bernardo Caraballo | 5,000 |
| Once Caldas | Manizales | Coliseo Jorge Arango Uribe | 5,000 |
| Centauros | Villavicencio | Coliseo Alvaro Mesa Amaya | 4,000 |
| Expreso Azul | Sibaté | Coliseo XIUA | 3,000 |
| Patriotas | Tunja | Coliseo Municipal de Tunja | 2,500 |
| Piratas | Bogotá | Coliseo El Salitre | 7,000 |
| Pijaos | Ibagué | Coliseo Enrique Triana Castilla | 3,000 |
Champions list
editSemi-professional era (1988–1991)
edit| Year | Champion | Tournament |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Cali Sport - JGB | I Copa Sprite |
| 1989 | Caldas Bancafetero Aces | II Copa Sprite |
| 1990 | Antioquia - Sprite | III Copa Sprite |
| 1991 | Valle - Sensus | IV Copa Sprite |
Profesional era (1992–present)
edit| Year | Champion | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Valle - Sensus | |
| 1993 | Paisas - Pilsen | |
| 1994 | Leopardos de Bucaramanga | |
| 1995 | Caimanes de Barranquilla | |
| 1996 | Paisas - Pilsen (2) | |
| 1997 | Caimanes de Barranquilla (2) | |
| 1998 | Caimanes de Barranquilla (3) | |
| 1999 | Piratas de Bogotá | |
| 2000 | Sabios de Caldas | |
| 2001 | Paisas - Pilsen (3) | |
| 2002 | Cancelled | |
| 2003 | Piratas de Bogotá (2) | |
| 2004 | Piratas de Bogotá (3) | |
| 2005 | Cancelled[5] | |
| 2006 | Búcaros de Santander[6] | |
| 2007 | Búcaros de Santander[7] | |
| 2008 | Cúcuta-Norte | |
| 2009 | Cúcuta-Norte | |
| 2010 | Arrieros de Antioquia | |
| 2011 | Búcaros de Santander | |
| 2012 | Búcaros de Santander | |
| Apertura 2013 | Bambuqueros de Neiva | |
| Clausura 2013 | Guerreros de Bogotá | |
| Apertura 2014 | Cimarrones de Choco | |
| Clausura 2014 | Piratas de Bogotá (4) | |
| Apertura 2015 | Aguilas de Tunja | Academia de La Montana |
| Clausura 2015 | Búcaros de Bucaramanga | Piratas de Bogotá |
| 2016 | Academia de la Montaña | Búcaros de Bucaramanga |
| 2017 | Cimarrones del Choco (2) | Fast Break del Valle Bogota |
| 2018 | Titanes de Barranquilla (1) | San Andrés Warriors |
| 2019 | Titanes de Barranquilla (2) | Fast Break del Valle Bogota |
| 2020 | Titanes de Barranquilla (3) | Team Cali |
| Apertura 2021 | Titanes de Barranquilla (4) | Tigrillos Medellin |
| Clausura 2021 | Titanes de Barranquilla (5) | Cimarrone del Choco |
| Apertura 2022 | Titanes de Barranquilla (6) | Cafeteros de Armenia |
| Clausura 2022 | Titanes de Barranquilla (7) | Caribbean Storm Islands |
| Apertura 2023 | Caribbean Storm Islands (1) | Cafeteros de Armenia |
| Clausura 2023 | Titanes de Barranquilla (8) | Cafeteros de Armenia |
| Apertura 2024 | Titanes de Barranquilla (9) | Toros del Valle |
References
edit- ^ BALONCESTO: CREADA LA DIVISIÓN MAYOR - ANDRES CAVELIER CASTRO - Redacción El Tiempo
- ^ LA SPRITE, AHORA SÍ PROFESIONAL - NULLVALUE - Redacción El Tiempo
- ^ Sistema de Torneo - Elkin Vargas - Redacción El Tiempo
- ^ Titanes, el equipo que representará Barranquilla en el Baloncesto Profesional
- ^ "No va más el baloncesto nacional - Universia". Archived from the original on 2012-07-03. Retrieved 2011-01-22.
- ^ Bucaros es campeón - Universia
- ^ Bucaros bicampeón en Copa Salud-Coop de baloncesto - Caracol Radio[permanent dead link]