Spanish basketball has closed 2025 with a figure that even the most optimistic in the federation did not expect to see so soon. 453,092 licenses registered, a number that makes this sport the second most practiced in Spain and confirms something that has been sensed on the courts for some time: the interest continues to grow, and it is not just a one-off season illusion.
Four consecutive years breaking its own record
According to the latest data published by the Spanish Basketball Federation, 2025 ended with 12,665 new licenses compared to the previous year, an increase of 2.9% that comes right after three other equally good years. To put this in perspective: in 2022 there were 377,108 registered players. Four years later, the accumulated growth exceeds 20%. And note, this does not include the people who play on Sundays in the park with the neighbourhood's rusty hoop, which really needs a new net.
The distribution by categories, almost identical between men and women
Interestingly, the growth is not coming from just one side. Male licenses have risen to 289,322, while female licenses have reached 163,770, with an increase of 4% compared to the previous year. In fact, if the data to be published by the Higher Sports Council is confirmed, basketball would remain the sport with the most registered women in the country, ahead of football and mountain and climbing sports.
One does not need to be very astute to link this female growth to what has been seen in recent international competitions. The Olympic silver in 3×3 and the silver in EuroBasket 2025 are not isolated anecdotes: they are the kind of results that make a girl watch the game on TV and the next day ask her parents to sign her up for the local club. The contagion effect exists, and in this case, it also translates into concrete numbers.
Madrid, the second region with the most licenses
By autonomous communities, Catalonia continues to lead the ranking with 88,608 licenses, but Madrid remains firmly in second place with 84,435, followed by the Valencian Community, Andalusia, and the Basque Country. These figures make it clear that the growth is not concentrated in two or three isolated areas, but is fairly evenly distributed across much of the territory.
What this means beyond the statistics
This is where the figures stop being just a nice headline and become a very real logistical problem for clubs, schools, and sports academies. More registered teams means, directly, more hours of use in courts and facilities, more training sessions, more lower category matches on Saturday mornings, and consequently, a wear and tear on equipment much faster than they were used to managing five years ago.
Balls that used to last an entire season now only hold up for half a term because they are used daily in two or three different shifts. Hoops, backboards, rims, and nets that receive continuous use in municipal facilities that previously only opened a couple of afternoons a week. And protective gear, scoreboards, or training carts that, in educational centres with multiple teams, are no longer a luxury but a constant maintenance necessity.
The purchase of equipment stops being generic
This necessitates a change in mindset that many clubs are already applying: stopping the practice of buying "the first thing that appears" and starting to value basketball technical equipment considering the actual intensity of use, the safety of the youngest, and the durability against wear that did not exist before. It is not the same to equip a hall that hosts three training sessions a week as one that is occupied almost every day, morning and afternoon.
In fact, DonDeporte confirms that they are noticing this shift in trend first-hand: they are receiving more and more orders from clubs and sports groups specifically looking for equipment designed for continuous use, both for sports facilities and for educational centres and public spaces. It makes sense: when the number of licenses rises by 20% in four years, the equipment behind those licenses must keep up with the pace, and that forces purchases to be made with the specific installation in mind rather than just the catalogue price.
Schools and colleges, the silent engine of growth
A large part of this increase originates from the younger categories, in minibasket schools and in school programmes that are increasingly gaining weight within clubs. This is where the wear and tear of poorly chosen equipment is most noticeable: a hoop that is too heavy for a schoolyard, a ball that cannot withstand the asphalt of an outdoor court, or a scoreboard that breaks after a few weeks of intensive use. These details, multiplied by thousands of installations across Spain, explain why the choice of equipment has become a decision that is much more technical than it seems at first glance.
The president of the FEB, Elisa Aguilar, has already set the goal of reaching half a million licenses by 2030, and given the progression of the last four years, it does not seem like an outrageous challenge. If the trend continues, what is today a logistical problem for clubs and schools will soon become the norm in most sports facilities in the country.
You may also like
