1997–98 British Basketball League season 1997–98 British Basketball League season The 1997–1998 BBL season was known as the Budweiser League for sponsorship reasons. The league featured the same 13 teams as the previous year, playing 36 games each. The only change saw the Hemel Royals renamed the Watford Royals. Greater London Leopards clinched their second successive Budweiser League title only by virtue of an overtime win in their final game of the season against Sheffield Sharks. Leopards' 102–106 victory in Sheffield meant they finished level on points with title-rivals Birmingham Bullets, but were crowned Champions due to a better head-to-head record over the Midlands team.
British Basketball League won the 2014 BBL Playoffs. The Newcastle Eagles, London Lions, Glasgow Rocks , and Bristol Flyers have all signalled their intentions of playing at a European level in the near future. As of the 2016/17 BBL season Italian sportswear manufacturer Kappa was the kit supplier for all the 12 teams. During his time as BBL Chairman, Paul Blake outlined a goal for the League to expand to 16 teams with an overall vision to have between 15 and 18 teams playing out of venues with 2,000-plus spectator capacity by 2019. Primary venues used in the British Basketball League: Bold indicates