Basketball Africa League (BAL) fourth season set to tip off on 9 March at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa, is set for a thrilling showdown.
The 2024 BAL season promises to be a spectacle, featuring the top 12 club teams from 12 African countries competing in a record 48 games across four different nations over four months.
Pretoria, Cairo, Dakar, and Kigali have been chosen as the host cities for this historic season, marking the first time the BAL games will be played in South Africa and the first time the league spans four different countries. Fans worldwide can now register their interest in securing tickets for the exhilarating matches at BAL.NBA.com.
The regular season will witness the 12 teams divided into three conferences – the Kalahari Conference, the Nile Conference, and the Sahara Conference – each consisting of four teams. The group phase, spanning from 9 March to 12 May, will see every team playing 12 games, facing the other three teams in their conference twice.
To set the stage for the playoffs, the top two teams from each conference, along with the top two third-place teams from across the three conferences, will gather in Kigali for four seeding games. The playoffs and finals, taking place from 24 May to 1 June, will feature an intense single-elimination format, determining the champion of the 2024 BAL season.
In preparation for the season, the BAL will host a Combine in Rabat, Morocco, from January 5 to 7 January, providing a platform for 30 aspiring players from Africa, Europe, the U.S., and around the world to showcase their talents. Led by former NBA player Robert Pack as the Combine Camp Director, the event will feature anthropometric and athletic testing, positional skill development, and 5-on-5 games in front of team executives, coaches, and scouts.
As part of the Combine, the BAL will also organize a U-23 “BAL4HER” identification camp on January 5, bringing together 20 female players and four female coaches from Morocco. This initiative is part of a broader series aimed at identifying top female players across Africa for a five-day camp in Kigali during the 2024 BAL Playoffs and Finals.
The BAL’s commitment to grassroots development is further emphasized with a coaching clinic for 200 local coaches. The event will be attended by BAL President Amadou Gallo Fall, FIBA Africa and BAL Board President Anibal Manave, and BAL Ambassador Ian Mahinmi.
With foundational partners including the Rwanda Development Board, NIKE, Jordan Brand, and Wilson, along with marketing partners such as Afreximbank, Hennessy, and RwandAir, the 2024 BAL season promises to elevate the league’s status as a world-class professional basketball competition.
As anticipation builds, basketball enthusiasts await the announcement of the 12 BAL teams, conferences, game schedule, and additional details in the coming months. The 2024 BAL season is poised to be a milestone in African basketball, bringing together the continent’s top talent in a celebration of sport and unity.
