Basketball, as a sport, has been as popular as football/soccer and has as big of an audience, especially in the United States. It can be seen not only in the number of people who gathers at games but also in the popularity of the sports betting business, with new possibilities for betting arising all the time, such as the Paddy Power promo code. Needless to say, there are quite a lot of popular tournaments throughout the world, yet some still manage to captivate a bigger audience than others and are able to bring fans together, everyone cheering for their own favorite club or nation.

These tournaments are the most attractive and host some of the world’s best basketball.

FIFA World Cup

The World Cup in basketball is an event that takes place every four years, similarly to soccer/football. It is a prestigious event, always taking place in a different country. The upcoming 2019 FIFA World Cup will take place in China, in 8 different cities. Notably, the 2019 tournament was rescheduled from 2018 in order not to take place at the same time as the now complete FIFA World Cup.

32 nations compete for the title of the best in the world. There is an 8 group round robin which leads to 16 teams in second round robin with 4 groups. The two best teams from each group go to the quarters in the knockout stages.

The winners with the most titles are the US and Yugoslavia, tied at 5 wins each. Following them are the Soviet Union with 3 and Brazil with 2.

NBA

This has to be one of the most popular basketball competitions, as it attracts an audience from all over the world, even though it takes place in the USA, only. 30 teams compete each year for the title of champion. 2 conferences, 3 divisions each, 5 teams in each division, start playing since the last week of October. The regular seasons starts at that time and lasts until the middle of April. During that time, each team plays 82 games, 41 home and 41 away.

After the regular season ends, in late April, the Playoffs start. They have 8 teams from each conference, the top 8 ones. Seeding is strict according to the regular season scores and tiebreakers are enforced if necessary. Teams than play a best of seven against an opponent, the winner advancing further while the other team is eliminated. The NBA Finals take place in June and have 2 teams from each conference playing for the championship title in another best of 7 match.

The current leader are the Boston Celtics with 17 wins, followed closely by the Los Angeles Lakers with 16 wins.

FIBA EuroBasket

The European championship is another attractive event which has nations from all over Europe competing for the title. It is a biannual event and has been since 1935. It has 24 nations and their teams competing for the title, in a 6 group round robin, the two best teams proceeding to the single match knockout stages.

With NBA taking place every year and EuroBasket every two, the World Cup every 4 years, there are plenty of games to choose from, not to mention FIBA Asia, FIBA Africa and FIBA Americas for those who want more.