A joint initiative of the Spanish Basketball Association, the ACB and the Spanish Ministry of Sport will launch an under-22 league in the 2025/26 season to promote the development of young players.
What is the Liga U?
The Liga U will function as a developmental league, with a focus on sport and educational formation of young players. This project, which will likely consist of a round robin and play offs, is a long-awaited solution that comes from a joint initiative of the Spanish Basketball Association (FEB), the ACB and the Ministry of Sport. The FEB has invited all 18 ACB teams to form squads composed of a minimum of 12 under-22 players. Crucially, at least 6 players are required to be Spanish, a number that will increase to 7 in the 2027/28 season. The Liga U will be financed by the ACB teams, sponsorship, as well as a 15€ million investment by the Ministry for the first 3 years. With these resources, young players will not only receive a competitive wage, but also grant access to elite training facilities, as well as academic scholarships to support their education.
Is there a need for the Liga U?
The Liga U is considered to be a crucial step to enhance the strengthening of Spanish Basketball worldwide. Spanish clubs have suffered as the NCAA increasingly depleted youth academies, as could be the case of the exit of Kasparas Jakucionis, Mario Saint-Supery or Dame Sarr. Such tendency reached its peak when in 20th of May of 2025, Barcelona and Madrid reportedly considered closing their youth academies due to the constant loss of talent. This migration of Spanish players to the NCAA is specially critical to the ACB teams as they need to include 4 homegrown players in their roster. With the flux of players to the NCAA, the number and quality of homegrown players has decreased, limiting the depth of Spanish clubs, specially on the Euroleague stage. Therefore, the creation of a formation and development league will serve to retain young talent, but also strengthen the foundation of Spain’s next generation of basketball stars. The Liga U is Spain’s boldest move yet to reclaim its basketball future—not just to keep talent at home, but to rebuild a system where the Spanish way can flourish once again.
Posted on: 27 June 2025, 0:48 CET
