Basketball Africa League announces key dates for 2026 season

The road to a Basketball Africa League title will ultimately go through Kigali, Rwanda, this upcoming season.

The 2026 BAL season will debut on March 27 in Pretoria, South Africa, with the championship game taking place in Kigali on May 31. There will be preliminary action with six teams in Pretoria from March 27-April 5 and six teams in Rabat, Morocco, from April 24-May 3. The eight-team BAL playoffs and a championship game will take place in Kigali from May 22-31. The 12 participating teams will be announced at a later date.

“Returning to South Africa, Morocco and Rwanda for our sixth season speaks to the strong sporting cultures and rapidly growing basketball ecosystems in those countries,” BAL president Amadou Gallo Fall said in a statement. “The BAL continues to inspire fans across the continent and drive opportunities and global recognition for African talent.

“We look forward to welcoming fans to BAL games in all three markets and to showcasing incredible competition and energy on and off the court to a global audience when the season tips off.”

The 2026 BAL season will include 12 club teams from 12 African countries playing 42 games in Pretoria, Rabat and Kigali. The six-team Kalahari Conference group phase will take place at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria. The six-team Sahara Conference group phase will take place at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex in Rabat. Eight teams from across the two conferences will qualify for the playoffs in Kigali at the BK Arena from May 22-31. BAL hosted games in Dakar, Senegal, from 2022-25, but not this season.

Libya’s Alahli Tripoli are the 2025 BAL champions and became the first Libyan team to win the BAL Finals after previous champions were crowned from Angola, Egypt and Tunisia. The BAL says it set an attendance record last season with more than 140,000 fans generating more than 1.2 billion impressions across NBA and BAL social media channels.

Andscape reported last October that the BAL could grow to 10 permanent franchises and two annual wild cards beginning in 2027.

“As we approach the tip off of the sixth Basketball Africa League season, we can celebrate the league’s growing impact and the way this competition continues to elevate the game across the region,” FIBA Africa president Anibal Manave said in a statement. “We also continue to see the importance of the Road to the BAL as a pathway that expands access and strengthens competition across the continent.

“Entering the sixth season with such momentum is a testament to the BAL’s influence on players, clubs and communities, and we look forward to another year of exceptional basketball.”

ESPN will also debut “Origin: The Story of the Basketball Africa League” on Feb. 11, exclusively on the ESPN app. “Origin” documents the story of how the BAL was formed and launched despite coronavirus pandemic challenges to become the NBA’s first league outside North America.

Fall, former Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri, President Barack Obama, rapper and former BAL guard J. Cole, and other key players, coaches and influencers are interviewed in the docuseries.

The post Basketball Africa League announces key dates for 2026 season appeared first on Andscape.