The South American professional club basketball system or South American professional club basketball pyramid is a series of interconnected competitions for professional basketball clubs in South America. The system has a hierarchical format with a promotion and relegation system between competitions at different levels. There are currently two different competitions on the pyramid – the 1st tier Basketball Champions League Americas, and the 2nd tier FIBA South American League. The 1st-tier level Basketball Champions League Americas is organized by FIBA Americas, and the 2nd-tier level FIBA South American League is organized by the South American Basketball Association (ABASU), which operates as a regional sub-zone of FIBA Americas.
Level | League | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Basketball Champions League Americas (2019 – present) | |||||
2 | FIBA South American League (2008 – present) |
The table below shows the tier structure of the pyramid for both the former eras and the current era. Current tier competitions are indicated in bold.
Level | League | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Basketball Champions League Americas (2019 – present) FIBA Americas League (2007 – 2019)[1] (Defunct) FIBA South American League (2001 – 2007) (Current 2nd-tier) Pan American Club Championship (1993 – 2000) (Defunct) South American Championship of Champions Clubs (1946 – 1992) (Defunct) | |||||
2 | FIBA South American League (1996 – 2000, 2008 – present)[2] South American Championship of Champions Clubs (1993 – 1996, 2001 – 2007) (Defunct) | |||||
3 | South American Championship of Champions Clubs (1996 – 2000, 2008) (Defunct)[3] |
The evolution of the top-tier international South American inter–continental and South American inter–regional professional club basketball competitions (1946—present):