The EuroLeague, known as the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague for sponsorship reasons, is a European professional basketball club competition, The league is widely recognised as the top-tier league in Europe. The league consists of 18 teams, of which 16 are given long-term licences and wild cards,[2] making the league a semi-closed league.[3][4] The league has been organized by Euroleague Basketball since its formation in 2000.