2024 Migration Report highlights ongoing surge in International Transfers

FIBA, the world governing body, and the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) have published the International Basketball Migration Report (IBMR) 2024, revealing an all-time high in international transfers. The 13th edition of the annual report investigated FIBA’s data on international transfers with the CIES’s renowned analytical expertise to provide insight into the player movement trends as well as other global basketball tendencies for the period 2023-24. Basketball continued to grow globally, and with it, the IBMR 2024 indicated more records were broken.

For the first time since the introduction of the IBMR after the 2010-11 season, there were more than 13,000 international transfers with 13,149 moves recorded. The numbers of men’s transfers (10,051) and women’s transfers (3,098) both set new standards. The number of international transfers – up from 11,787 for 2022-23 – has increased 113% since the 2010-11 season. Twenty percent of players with an international transfer move twice within the same calendar year.

A GLOBAL SNAPSHOT

The United States remains by far the biggest exporter of players with 2,050 men and women players, with second place being Spain with 708, and France third with 630 players.
International players made up 18% of the NBA and 9% of the WNBA rosters.
Leagues in Spain, Germany, and Italy have the highest number of foreign players.
Argentina has the most U21 players, largely due to the implemented regulations that encourage their inclusion on team rosters.
U21 players receive the most playing time in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).
Australia is starting to receive more transfers from Europe – particularly from Germany and Great Britain.
For Africa, the region maintains a neutral balance in terms of exports-imports.

Notably, among the increases globally were more men’s and women’s players heading to the United States to play NCAA Division I basketball. A record total of 826 men’s international players competed in the college game – up 5.8 percent from the previous season – while women’s college basketball had a record 828 international players – up 7.1 percent from 2022-23. FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis said: “I would like to extend my thanks again to CIES for its continued work in this field. This important collaboration is keeping us informed about the increasing number of player transfers and movements, as well as the crucial data derived from the league’s analysis. “As we see another rise in numbers of international transfers – now over 13,000 after passing the 11,000 mark from the last report – we will continue to review this trend closely, maintaining our strong focus on exploring the key topics surrounding global player transfers.” Zagklis added: “Millions of players worldwide, as well as the 212 National Federations, look to FIBA in its role of safeguarding and also growing the sport around the world. Understanding player movement is a major part in doing that.” Click here to view the full report.

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About FIBA FIBA (fiba.basketball) – the world governing body for basketball, is an independent association formed by 212 National Basketball Federations throughout the world. It is recognized as the sole competent authority in basketball by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

For further information about FIBA, visit fiba.basketball or follow FIBA on facebook.com/fiba, twitter.com/fiba, instagram.com/fiba, linkedin.com/fiba and youtube.com/fiba. About CIES – The International Centre for Sports Studies CIES (cies.ch) is an independent study centre located in Neuchatel, Switzerland. It was created as a Foundation in 1995 by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the University of Neuchâtel, the City and State of Neuchatel. Using a multi-disciplinary approach, CIES provides research and top-level education to the world of sport. Since its creation, CIES has aimed to be a bridge between the worlds of research, education, and sports organisations. It encourages the exchange of knowledge and experience between stakeholders from both academia and the international sports industry. Thanks to its international network of universities and experts, CIES supports and conducts research and education projects all around the world.