The National Women Basketball League, known as Zenith Women Basketball League for sponsorship reasons is the top-level women's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

club competition in Nigeria. It is the women's version of Nigeria Premier League organized by the

Nigeria Basketball Federation The Nigerian Basketball Federation (NBBF) is the governing body for men's and women's basketball in Nigeria. NBBF has been an affiliate of FIBA Africa since 1963, and its offices are located in Abuja and Lagos. FIBA competitions The senior men's ...

. The league also determines the Nigerian representatives at

FIBA Africa Women's Clubs Champions Cup The FIBA Africa Women's Champions Cup is the highest continental tournament in African women's basketball. It is the counterpart of the men's basketball competition FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup. It is organized by the FIBA Africa and played by ...

History

The league started with five teams, however the number grew to eighteen by 2017. The league has been sponsored by

Zenith Bank Zenith Bank Plc is a large financial service provider in Nigeria and Anglophone West Africa. It is licensed as a commercial bank by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the national banking regulator. As of 31 December 2019, it holds $16.1bn in total ass ...

since 2004. In 2017, after the expiration of the contract agreement between NBBF and Zenith Bank, the banking institution renewed the terms of the negotiation with bigger winning bonus for the teams. The winner of the league receives a ₦30,000,000 prize money. The league is criticized for being overly dominated by First Bank, First Deepwater and Dolphins. The league was suspended for 3 years after the 2019 season, the first two years due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

and in 2022 due to a disputed election within the

. The league resumed in August 2023, with MFM Queens winning the title in late October. Players in the league are semi-pro, with most receiving a small stipend.

Teams

The following are the eighteen teams that participate in the league:

List of winners

References

{{Women's professional basketball leagues Women's basketball leagues in Africa Basketball in Nigeria