Professional basketball championship in Colombia
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.
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]
The 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
Current teams
The following teams played in the 2024-I season:
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
Semi-professional era (1988–1991)
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)
References
Further reading