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 games would be broadcast on the BBC Sport website with the showpiece finals also being broadcast on the BBC Red Button. Alongside the BBC deal, a six-year deal with Perform was signed which saw every BBL game broadcast via LiveBasketball.TV, and a deal followed a year later with UNILAD to broadcast one game a week live via Facebook. FreeSports signed a deal with the league in January 2018 to broadcast games for the remainder of the season, starting with the BBL Trophy Final between Worcester Wolves and Cheshire Phoenix. British Basketball League The British Basketball League, often abbreviated to the