The 2024-2025 FIBA Women’s EuroLeague season kicks off on Tuesday, with two of Türkiye’s top teams, reigning champions Fenerbahçe Opet and ÇBK Mersin, taking center stage.
Both Turkish powerhouses will face tough French opponents in away games as they begin their quest for European glory.
Fenerbahçe, grouped in C, will take on Villeneuve d'Ascq LM, while ÇBK Mersin, placed in Group B, is set to face Tango Bourges Basket.
The first round will wrap up on Nov. 27, and the second round will run from Dec. 11 to Jan. 28, 2025.
The road to the title will look different this season, thanks to a newly implemented format designed to heighten competition and excitement.
This season’s EuroLeague will feature 16 teams across four groups.
The top three teams from each group will advance to the second round, while the last-placed teams will continue their European campaigns in the FIBA EuroCup.
In the second round, 12 teams will compete in two groups of six.
The top two teams from each group will qualify for the semifinal play-in, while the third- and fourth-placed teams will earn a spot in the quarterfinal play-in.
The bottom two teams will be eliminated.
The semifinal play-in will be a two-game series, with the winners advancing directly to the final four.
The losers will continue to battle it out in the quarterfinals.
The same format will be applied in the quarterfinal play-ins, where the winners will move on to the final eight.
After the play-ins, the tournament will culminate in the Final Six – a thrilling single-elimination phase. In the first matchups, the semifinal play-in losers will face the quarterfinal play-in winners, with the victors advancing to challenge the teams that secured a direct ticket to the semifinals.
The final showdown will determine the two finalists, while the losing semifinalists will vie for third place.
The competition boasts representation from nine countries, with 16 elite teams grouped as follows:
Türkiye has made a significant impact on the Women’s EuroLeague, with Fenerbahçe securing back-to-back titles in the past two seasons and Galatasaray triumphing once.
In the 2013-2014 final, Galatasaray clinched Türkiye’s first title with a 69-58 win over Fenerbahçe.
Fenerbahçe, however, quickly rebounded, winning the championship in 2022-2023 by demolishing ÇBK Mersin 99-60 and defeating France's Villeneuve d'Ascq LM 106-73 last season.
First launched as the European Cup for Women’s Champion Clubs in 1958-1959, the competition was renamed the FIBA Women’s EuroLeague in 1996.
The inaugural champion was Bulgaria's Slavia Sofia, which defeated Dinamo Moscow both home and away to lift the trophy.
As the tournament prepares for its 67th edition, Daugava Riga’s remarkable 18 titles – 12 of which were consecutive – remain a record. The Latvian team’s dominance during the Soviet era in the competition is legendary.
Russia's UMMC Ekaterinburg follows with six titles, securing its place as another powerhouse in EuroLeague history.
