Difference between NBA and EuroLeague
Basketball is one of the most popular sports in the world and is followed with interest in almost every country. This also applies to betting opportunities: you can easily bet on basketball, even in distant and exotic countries. (Before doing this, we recommend visiting a site https://australia-bettingoffersfinder.com/ to find bonuses that will give you an advantage.) But whether you want to watch basketball or bet on it, you will have two basic options: the NBA and the EuroLeague.
“Naturally, NBA betting is more common in the iGaming industry because it has more notoriety,” says Tony Sloterman, product owner of Betting Offers Finder company. “However, we can say that in recent years the EuroLeague has also become more and more popular.” So, have you ever wondered about the main differences between these two leagues? Below, we answer this question.
Rules Are Very Different
The biggest difference between the two is that the NBA is a “professional basketball league”. In other words, NBA is the name of the league. EuroLeague, on the other hand, is a “competition”: you can think of it as a championship in which the best teams competing in their domestic leagues are eligible to participate. Although technically both count as “leagues”, in practice they are different from each other. The teams that join the EuroLeague also compete in their own leagues. For NBA teams, there is no such thing: NBA is the only league they play. As a result of this, the overall team count is quite different: 30 teams compete in the NBA and 18 teams in the EuroLeague.
Other differences are in terms of rules. EuroLeague is played by FIBA (International Basketball Federation) rules and therefore departs from NBA in the following ways:
· EuroLeague courts are smaller (28m x 15m). NBA courts are 28.65m x15.24m. This may seem like a simple difference, but it has important consequences. For example, it causes the 3-point line to be closer to the basket in EuroLeague.
· Matches played according to FIBA rules last only 40 minutes (four quarters, 10 minutes each). NBA games, on the other hand, consist of four 12-minute quarters (48 minutes total).
· In general, we can say that FIBA rules are applied more strictly. NBA referees can be more liberal, citing the “spirit of the game”. FIBA referees, on the other hand, strictly follow the rules: this is especially true for the rules regarding physical contact.
· EuroLeague teams can transfer a maximum of two overseas players. There is no such restriction for NBA teams.
Fame is Different Too
Of course, the reputation levels of both leagues (and basketball players) are also quite different. Even though the NBA is technically just a league, it is considered the face of basketball. For the same reason, every player is treated like a star: it’s not uncommon for NBA basketball players to sign multi-million-dollar deals. For example, in the 2021-2022 season, there were more than 30 basketball players with a total annual income of over $30 million.
EuroLeague is “humbler” in this respect. The annual income of basketball players varies between 400,000 – 800,000 USD. For example, Anadolu Efes, the champion of the 2021-22 season, has a total annual budget of 15.9 million dollars for the team salary: the annual income of a single NBA star is spent on the entire team.