Guide · Spain

How to play pro basketball in Spain

Liga Endesa, Primera FEB and Segunda FEB are the three men's divisions under the ACB and the Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB). Tercera FEB is the class under them. This page is that ladder, the formation-player and non-EU rules the league and the federation have published, the 2026-27 dates they have actually printed, and where an American passport fits. It is for players outside Spain, including college players. It is not a tryout, and it is not a placement service.

The ladder, from Liga Endesa down

Start with the division that matches your film. The three divisions named above are organised competitions with a license. None of them is an open tryout.

• Liga Endesa (men). The top division, run by the Asociación de Clubes de Baloncesto (ACB). The 2026-27 dates article describes 18 clubs and 34 regular-season rounds, 306 games, then a playoff for the top eight. Our entry-friendliness estimate is 1/5. This is a job for players who already have a pro body of work.
• Primera FEB (men). The second division, run by the FEB. The bases organise it as 18 teams in one group, home and away, 34 rounds. The regular-season winner and the winner of the promotion phase earn the sporting right to Liga ACB if they meet the collaboration agreement with the ACB. Places 16, 17 and 18 go down to Segunda FEB. Entry-friendliness on our index: 3/5.
• Segunda FEB (men). The third division, in two groups. The bases organise 28 teams, 14 in each group, home and away inside the group, and say the groups are resized if not every team registers. Entry-friendliness on our index: 4/5. One non-EU spot per team is a scarce job, not a general tryout.
• Tercera FEB (men). The class under Segunda FEB. The bases say a roster is 8 to 12 players, at least 8 of them formation players, and at most one non-EU player. Entry-friendliness on our index: 4/5.
• Outside that ladder. Liga Femenina Endesa is the women's top league. The 2026-27 bases organise 16 teams, a roster of 8 to 12, at most two non-EU players, and a formation-player minimum of 3 on a roster of 8 or 9 and 4 on a roster of 10 to 12. The same bases say the scoresheet lists at least 10 players available to play, and at least 4 formation players. Liga Femenina Challenge and Liga Femenina 2 are on the index. This page does not copy an import number or a wage from bases it has not quoted.

Each of those has its own page in the league explorer. The rules index puts leagues side by side, including Liga Endesa rules, Primera FEB rules and Segunda FEB rules. The wider first-contract map, if Spain is one option among many, is where to get your first pro contract. Liga Endesa Normas Internas 2026/27 (PDF) · Primera FEB bases 2026/27 (PDF) · Segunda FEB bases 2026/27 (PDF)

Who counts as Spanish, EU, or a non-EU player

The labels do different jobs. A passport that helps in Segunda FEB can still leave a formation-player minimum empty. Liga Endesa does not use the FEB's definition.

The FEB definition, for Primera FEB, Segunda FEB and Tercera FEB

Article 28 of the FEB's general competition rules is the definition those three bases point to. It does not apply to Liga Endesa. The article says so. FEB Reglamento General y de Competiciones, Article 28 (PDF)

A formation player (jugador de formación) is a citizen of an EU country, or of a country whose association or similar treaty with the EU includes a nationality non-discrimination clause on working conditions, who was registered with any club affiliated to the FEB for three seasons between the second year of the infantil age group and the second year of the junior age group, inclusive. Each of those seasons has to include at least eight months. A player who has appeared for a FEB national team in an official competition is also a formation player, even without those three seasons. A season of AAU or US college basketball is not a season at a FEB club, and it is not a FEB national team.

A non-EU foreign player (jugador extranjero no comunitario) has the nationality of a country that is not an EU member state, not in the EEA, not Switzerland, and not a country with an equal-treatment agreement on working conditions with the EU. A player who relies on a second nationality of an equal-treatment country, without a personal, family or sporting link to that country of adoption, still counts as non-EU. Anyone who is neither a formation player nor a non-EU foreign player is a foreign EU player for the license only. A US-only passport is the non-EU line. It is not a formation player, and it is not an EU player.

The bases also keep a narrow UK note. It covers nationals of the United Kingdom who were established in the United Kingdom, in Gibraltar or in an EU member state, and nationals of an EU member state who were established in the United Kingdom or in Gibraltar, when they are exercising the profession in Spain on a temporary or occasional basis and they already had a contract and a visa before 1 February 2021. They can keep that condition until the contract ends. Anyone who does not meet the note is treated as non-EU after 1 February 2021. A US passport is not this note.

Liga Endesa

Article 28 does not govern Liga Endesa. The Normas Internas set the matchday numbers, and they point the definition of a formation player and a non-EU player to the eligibility agreement of 19 July 2011 and the resolution of the presidency of the Consejo Superior de Deportes of 16 July 2014. Those texts are named as annexes. They are not restated in the articles of the PDF. This page does not invent the youth-years test the annexes might contain. ACB Normas Internas, Article 15

What the articles do print, for every matchday, is a formation minimum and a non-EU maximum that depend on how many players are inscribed:

• 8 or 9 players: at least 3 formation players, and at most 2 non-EU foreign players.
• 10, 11 or 12 players: at least 4 formation players, and at most 2 non-EU foreign players.

A club may inscribe at most 12 players on a given matchday, and at most 20 player registrations over the season. Players from the club's own lower categories, and linked players, do not count toward that 20. The non-EU maximum is two. It is not a reserve of two jobs for Americans. Roster maximums and the 20-registration cap

The same article sorts the documents by nationality. A Spanish player shows a national identity card or a passport. An EU, EEA or Swiss national, or a person given equal treatment by a court or by law, shows a passport and, if the contract runs longer than three months, a current EU-citizen registration certificate. A national of any other state shows a passport and a title of legal residence in Spain that allows employed work. A US-only passport is that last group. It uses one of the two non-EU places. Growing up in the United States does not move it into the formation minimum, because this page has not been given a sentence in the articles that says it does.

By 31 August 2026 each club had to have at least 8 players with an ACB license, plus a head coach, two assistants, a team delegate and a doctor. Team registration ran from 17 July to 31 August 2026. Once the competitions have started, a player may change clubs only if the release is before 28 February, under the case the collective agreement names. Between the end of the regular season and 14:00 on the business day before a club's first playoff game, the club may still register one new player if it has not reached 20 registrations. Deadlines in Articles 14 and 15

Primera FEB: two non-EU players, on a roster of 8 to 15

A Primera FEB team keeps 8 to 15 players inscribed and under contract all season. The formation minimum on that roster is 3 if the roster is 8 or 9, 4 if it is 10 to 12, and 5 if it is 13 to 15. At most two players may be non-EU. The bases say that maximum is not compulsory. The scoresheet for each game has to list at least 10 players available to play, and the formation minimum is also obligatory on the scoresheet: the bases spell out at least 4 formation players when the roster is 10 to 12, and at least 5 when it is 13 to 15. A US-only passport can fill one of the two non-EU places. It does not fill a formation place. Primera FEB roster rules (PDF)

A non-EU player who is married to an EU or EEA citizen legally resident in Spain does not use a non-EU place if the club files the spouse's passport, a recent marriage certificate, and the application for the residence card of a family member of an EU citizen. A marriage that has not happened is not this exception.

Segunda FEB: one non-EU player, and two formation players on the floor

A Segunda FEB team keeps 8 to 12 players. The formation minimum on that roster is 3 if it is 8 or 9, and 4 if it is 10 to 12. At most one player may be non-EU, and that place is not compulsory. Separately, at least two formation players from the scoresheet have to be on the floor for the whole game. The formation minimum on the scoresheet follows the same proportion, counted from the players actually listed on that game's scoresheet, and the scoresheet has to include at least 8 players available to play. A US-only college player is not a formation player, so that player does not help the two-player floor. The one non-EU spot and the two-player floor are both in force. The marriage exception is the same one Primera FEB prints. Segunda FEB roster rules (PDF)

Tercera FEB: one non-EU player, and eight formation players

Tercera FEB keeps 8 to 12 players inscribed, at least 8 of them formation players, and at most one non-EU player. The scoresheet has to include at least 8 players available to play, and the formation minimum has to be on it. The same Article 28 definition applies. A US passport uses the one non-EU place. It does not help the eight. Tercera FEB roster rules (PDF)

What a second passport does and does not do is path via passport. Write the passport you hold today. An application a parent might someday make is not an EU citizen and not a formation player.

A realistic ladder for an American passport

Match the passport to the rule, then match the film to the division.

• US passport only, Liga Endesa. You use one of at most two non-EU places on the matchday list. You do not, on anything this page can cite from the articles, fill the formation minimum. The clubs at this level already have pro film to choose from. Our estimate is 1/5. Treat a Liga Endesa offer out of college as the exception.
• US passport only, Primera FEB. You use one of at most two non-EU places. You do not count as a formation player. The scoresheet still has to carry the formation minimum and at least 10 available players. Our estimate is 3/5. Bring a body of work a Primera FEB coach can check.
• US passport only, Segunda FEB. This is the published lower pro spot: one non-EU player per team, and you do not count toward the two formation players on the floor. Our estimate is 4/5. One spot per club is the whole market for that passport.
• US passport only, Tercera FEB. One non-EU place on a roster that also has to carry at least eight formation players. Our estimate is 4/5. The bases do not publish a wage. Confirm housing and pay in the contract, because the federation has not published them.
• An EU passport that is not also a formation player. It takes you out of the non-EU count in Primera FEB, Segunda FEB and Tercera FEB, if the FEB accepts that nationality under Article 28. It does not fill the formation minimum. In Liga Endesa it is the EU document line in Article 15, not the formation minimum, unless the annexes the Normas point to say otherwise. This page does not guess that they do.
• Spanish citizenship, or the three FEB youth seasons, or a FEB national team. That is the formation line in the FEB leagues. Citizenship or youth years you do not already have are not this line. Liga Endesa's formation test is the one in its annexes, which the articles do not reprint.

The same ladder, as one option among many countries, is playing overseas after college. Germany, France, Italy, Japan and Australia run on other calendars. A Spanish winter is not a second season you add after any of them.

What the leagues pay

There is no salary table in the documents this page cites. The Liga Endesa Normas Internas incorporate the ACB-ABP collective agreement as an annex, and the articles do not print a player salary, a team cap, or a minimum wage. The Primera FEB and Segunda FEB bases set club charges. They do not set a paycheck. This page leaves the paycheck blank on purpose.

Two club charges are easy to misread as pay, so they are named here as charges. Primera FEB's inscription fee is 36,000 euros, and each team deposits a bank guarantee of 150,000 euros. Segunda FEB's inscription fee is 17,500 euros. A Primera FEB non-EU license, adding the FEB line and the regional line, is 2,000 euros before the competition starts, 3,000 euros from the start through the end of the first half, and 4,000 euros from then until the registration deadline. Those are fees the club pays the federation to enter and to license. They are not the wage. Primera FEB club charges (PDF) · Segunda FEB inscription fee (PDF)

A reported range from a placement company or a dated survey is stored, and labelled as not official, on the league pages and in the salary table. Use it only with that label. It is not repeated here as a league fact. First-year salaries is the page for entry-level ranges in other countries. Women's ranges, where a source exists, are on women's salaries.

Two sentences change how you read an offer.

• Housing, a car and flights are contract terms. The rules cited here do not promise them. Primera FEB's bases say each team pays its own lodging and travel. If the item is not in the contract, it is not in the deal. Contract checklist →
• US tax is a separate return. US taxes on an overseas salary is that page. This page does not state a Spanish income-tax rate.

Our index tags housing as "usually" included on these Spanish leagues. That tag is an editorial estimate. It is not a clause in the bases.

The agent's commission is still a contract of its own. The FEB's rules say a FIBA international transfer has to name the player's FIBA agent when the player has one. The cap on agent pay, under FIBA's regulations, is explained in agent fees. It is not a fee you wire before anyone offers. Naming the FIBA agent (PDF)

Season calendar

The season is a northern winter that runs into the spring. Plan off the dates the ACB and the FEB have published, and recheck the league site before you book a flight.

A letter in November is a replacement conversation, if a club has an open spot your passport can fill. It is not the start of the season. Primera FEB's registration deadline is 14:00 peninsular time on the last business day of February. Until 14:00 on the last business day of March, Primera FEB still accepts a player from a higher category, a player whose competition needs an international transfer, or a player who has not held a FEB license at all that season. Segunda FEB's deadline is 14:00 peninsular time on the last business day of February, for any category or origin. The Segunda FEB bases do not print Primera FEB's March window, so this page does not copy it across. Each team may register up to 20 players through the February deadline. Liga Femenina Endesa's own calendar opens the league on Saturday 3 October 2026. Liga Femenina Endesa calendar (PDF)

The tryouts and camps calendar does not list an official Liga Endesa, Primera FEB or Segunda FEB open tryout. If a camp sells "Spanish league exposure," read when a tryout helps and the legit checklist before you pay.

The residence title, after a real offer

Paid basketball for a player who is not an EU citizen is work. Liga Endesa will not inscribe a national of "other states" without a passport and a title of legal residence that allows employed work, valid when the club applies. While that card is still being obtained, the Normas allow a certificate the ACB issues and the sports council visas, together with the residence-and-work application, and they set later deadlines for uploading the resolution and the identity card. The FEB bases, for the leagues that use them, ask for a residence and work authorisation in force, or the application, for players from countries that are not in the European Union and the Schengen area. The license paperwork also asks for the contract with the club. ACB documents for non-EU players · FEB residence line (PDF)

The wider sequence, including why a short visit is not a season, is the visa guide. We do not copy a government fee. The Spanish league documents cited here do not print one either.

• The club is the employer on the license. Liga Endesa and the FEB bases ask for the contract with that club. There is no honest way to hold the residence title first and shop it to clubs.
• A short stay is not the document these rules name. The document they name is a residence and work authorisation. Tercera FEB also accepts a student stay visa, and that sentence is in the Tercera FEB bases only. It is not a Liga Endesa rule.
• Do not wire a "visa fee" to a person. Any government charge belongs on the channel that country's official site names. An agent who invoices you for the visa, before or instead of a contract, is the problem described in agent fees.

A move from abroad also follows the FEB's international-transfer procedure. An adult whose last federated license was outside Spain needs a FIBA international transfer: a passport copy, and 250 Swiss francs paid by card when the email arrives. A minor whom FIBA decides moved to Spain for basketball can be charged 3,000 Swiss francs, paid by transfer when FIBA asks. Those are FIBA charges in the procedure the FEB published. They are not a salary and not an agent's commission. A FIBA Letter of Clearance is the basketball transfer document. It is not the residence title. FEB international-transfer procedure (PDF) · Article 28.5, the FIBA transfer

How to get seen

Clubs fill the spots above with film and a contract, not with a form on this website. The order that matches the calendar:

1. Pick the tier your last season supports. A non-EU place on a Liga Endesa matchday list is not a general tryout. Primera FEB's two non-EU places still sit on a roster that has to carry formation players. Segunda FEB's one non-EU spot is the realistic pro rung for a US-only passport, and it is one spot. If you are earlier than any offer, playing overseas after college is the wider page. Best countries is the comparison if Spain is only one idea.
2. Send the film package this site already describes. A short reel plus full games, in the form the highlight-reel guide sets, and a one-page player résumé with your real passport, your height in both units, and links that open with no login. Write the league you played. Write the passport you hold today. Leave "Spanish eligible" and "EU eligible" off the sheet unless the passport or the FEB youth years are already true.
3. Use an agent the transfer can name, or write to the club yourself. How to get an agent is the process. The agent directory is the public list on this site. The FEB says the FIBA transfer names the FIBA agent when you have one. Check the licence on FIBA's directory before the name goes on your résumé. A short email to a coach, with the résumé linked, is the direct version. It is not a guarantee anyone writes back.
4. Time it off the dates above. The 2026-27 season is already open. A full-season conversation for the following year waits on the next registration window. Primera FEB's March window is a narrow list of origins, not a general signing period, and Segunda FEB does not print it. The free Pro Pathway Starter Kit is the short PDF of the league hierarchy and the first two Playbook chapters if you want the wider map in one file.
5. Read the offer before you book the flight. Currency, gross or net, housing, US tax, the exit, and who files the residence title. Contract checklist → What you spend before anyone offers, including a flight you should keep refundable, is what it costs to play overseas.

What to ignore

• A guaranteed Liga Endesa contract, a guaranteed non-EU spot, or a camp that claims the league will attend because you paid.
• A salary quote that treats a club inscription fee, a bank guarantee or a non-EU license charge as your pay. Those documents do not publish a player salary.
• Anyone who says a US passport counts as a formation player, or that any EU passport fills the formation minimum. Article 28 is three seasons at a FEB club, or a FEB national team. An EU passport is a different label, and it matters for the non-EU count.
• Anyone who says Liga Endesa, Primera FEB and Segunda FEB use the same import rule. Liga Endesa and Primera FEB print a maximum of two non-EU players. Segunda FEB prints one, plus two formation players on the floor. Liga Endesa does not use Article 28.
• Anyone who says AAU or college years make you a formation player in a FEB league. The test is registration at a FEB club in the age groups Article 28 names, or a FEB national team.
• Anyone who says Segunda FEB stays open through March because Primera FEB does. Primera FEB prints three March cases. Segunda FEB's deadline is the last business day of February.
• A residence title arranged before the offer, or a plan to play the Liga Endesa season on a short-stay visa. The visa guide is the line on that.
• An agent fee paid upfront to be "submitted to Spain." Once a real playing contract exists, the cap on agent pay is in agent fees. It is not a listing fee. The 250 Swiss francs and the 3,000 Swiss francs in the FEB transfer procedure are FIBA charges, not a commission.

FAQ

How do you play pro basketball in Spain?

The men's ladder is Liga Endesa, then Primera FEB, then Segunda FEB, then Tercera FEB. Liga Endesa allows at most two non-EU players on a matchday list, with a formation-player minimum that depends on how many players are inscribed. Primera FEB allows at most two non-EU players on a roster of 8 to 15. Segunda FEB allows at most one non-EU player, and at least two formation players have to be on the floor for the whole game. There is no open tryout on this site. Clubs sign from film and an agent, after an offer.

How many foreign players can a Spanish team sign?

Foreign is not one category. For Primera FEB, Segunda FEB and Tercera FEB, the FEB defines a non-EU foreign player as someone whose nationality is not an EU member state, the EEA, Switzerland, or a country with an equal-treatment agreement on working conditions. A US-only passport is in that group. Liga Endesa uses its own eligibility annexes, and Article 28 of the FEB rules says those FEB definitions do not apply to Liga Endesa. On the numbers the leagues do print: Liga Endesa and Primera FEB cap non-EU players at two, Segunda FEB and Tercera FEB at one. The cap is not compulsory. An EU passport is a different label from a formation player.

What is the difference between Liga Endesa, Primera FEB and Segunda FEB?

Liga Endesa is the top division. The ACB's 2026-27 dates article describes 18 clubs and 34 regular-season rounds, then a playoff for the top eight. Primera FEB's bases organise 18 teams in one group and 34 rounds. The regular-season winner and the winner of the promotion phase move up to Liga ACB if they meet the collaboration agreement. Places 16, 17 and 18 go down to Segunda FEB. Segunda FEB's bases organise 28 teams in two groups of 14, unless not every team registers. The winner of the series between the two group winners, plus the two semifinal winners, move up to Primera FEB.

How much do players in the Spanish leagues make?

The Liga Endesa Normas Internas and the Primera FEB and Segunda FEB bases do not publish a player salary, a salary cap, or a minimum wage. Euro amounts in those documents are club charges, license fees and guarantees, not a paycheck. This page does not invent an import range and does not convert anything into US dollars. A reported range on the salary table is labelled as not official.

When is basketball season in Spain?

Liga Endesa opened on 26 and 27 September 2026. The regular season's last round is 21 to 23 May 2027. Quarterfinals start from 25 May 2027, and the ACB says the season ends between 25 and 29 June 2027 depending on how long the semifinals and the final go. Primera FEB's round 1 is Friday 25 September 2026 and round 34 is Friday 7 May 2027. The Final Four is 5 and 6 June 2027. Segunda FEB's regular season opens Saturday 3 October 2026, and round 26 is Saturday 10 April 2027.

Do I need a visa to play basketball in Spain?

If you are not an EU citizen, Liga Endesa asks for a document of legal residence in Spain that lets you work as an employee, and the FEB bases ask for a residence and work authorisation, or the application while it is pending, for players from countries outside the European Union and the Schengen area. A season is a job, not a short visit. This is not legal advice. The government pages we can cite are on the visa guide.

Can a college player get a Liga Endesa contract?

A US college career does not make you a formation player in Primera FEB or Segunda FEB. Those leagues use three seasons at a FEB club between the youth age groups the federation names, or a FEB national-team appearance. Liga Endesa does not use that test. Its Normas point to a 2011 eligibility agreement and a 2014 sports-council resolution and do not restate the test in the articles, so this page does not invent one. Our entry-friendliness estimate for Liga Endesa is 1/5. The published spot for a US-only passport is one of two non-EU places in Primera FEB, or the one non-EU place in Segunda FEB or Tercera FEB. Those are still scarce jobs.