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UK AN IMPORT HOTSPOT

British basketball has the second highest import differential in the sport globally, it has been revealed

FIBA’s annual player migration survey puts the difference between overseas players in the BBL, WBBL and EBL (257) and those Brits heading overseas (122) as -135, second only to Germany at -230.

When solely men are included, the BBL is ranked third behind Germany and Switzerland on -92 – although it is understood export figures do not account for Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish players.

The United States, unsurprisingly, has the highest positive balance with 1567 players exported and just 535 brought in from abroad, with its trade surplus of 1032 almost ten times that of second-ranked Serbia.

The figures, compiled by the CIES Sports Observatory in Neuchatel, is producing using FIBA’s own data on international transfers, numbering 7800 during the 2014-15 season.

On average, 43% of players within the various national leagues are foreign nationals with Spain with the highest percentage – and Brazil the lowest.

“It appears that the increase in the number of nationalities represented can be explained by various nations looking for cheaper international players due to the challenging economic environments being faced in many countries,” the report said.

“Meanwhile the playing time of foreign players remains high and indicates the adverse impact this is having on national players, whose respective roles continue to be diluted.”

There has been a continued increase in the number of international players in NCAA Division I but a low average playing time among those in the NBA, where 87 recruits from outside USA and Canada began the new season this week. However there has been a decline over the past five years in American imports for the men’s and women’s Euroleague and Eurocup.

The data also found that, worldwide, players under 21 received only 5.2 minutes per game on average.

View the full survey here

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