Founded in 1948, the team is the most successful in French basketball with 21 Pro A championships and 10 French Cup titles.
In 2014, Tony Parker became the president of the club. In 2017, Nicolas Batum became the club's director of basketball operations. In June 2019, football club Olympique Lyonnais's holding company OL Groupe purchased a 25% stake in the ASVEL men's team, plus a 10% stake in the ASVEL women's team, in a deal worth around €3.7 million.[3] The deal also included a plan for a new EuroLeague-standard arena.[4]
History
The parent club was founded in 1948, with the merger of two multi-sport clubs in Lyon and vicinity; ASVEL is an acronym combining the names of the predecessor clubs—Association Sportive Villeurbanne and Éveil Lyonnais. In its history, ASVEL has won 20 French Pro A League championships, 10 French Cups, two French Supercups, one French Federation Cup, and one Semaine des As Cup (French Pro A Leaders Cup), which makes it the most titled basketball club in France.
In the French Pro A League 2015–16 season, ASVEL won its 18th French League title, after beating Strasbourg IG 3 games to 2 in the French Pro A League Finals. ASVEL was down 2–0 in the series, but won three games in a row to take the championship.[5]
In March 2017, NBA player, Nicolas Batum, became a shareholder in Infinity Nine Sports, the main investment company behind the club, and took over the position as director of basketball operations. Tony Parker remained majority owner, and ASVEL President.[6] In 2018, the club signed a 10-year name sponsorship agreement with LDLC. The club also changed its main team colors from the original white and green to white and black, and changed its main logo design.[7]
In 2019, ASVEL returned to the EuroLeague after the organisation decided to give the team a wild card for two years.[8]
In the 2021–22 season, ASVEL won its third Pro A championship in a row, its first three-peat in 32 years after beating Monaco in the Finals.[9]
Arenas
Interior view of L'Astroballe in 2017LDLC Arena in December 2023
L'Astroballe, with a seating capacity of 5,556 has been used as the long-time home arena of ASVEL.
In July 2016, ASVEL announced that it would build a new multi-functional arena, with a projected seating capacity between 12,000 and 16,000 people, depending on the configuration.[10] The arena is projected to cost €60 million.[11] The new arena will be named the LDLC Arena, and its design and construction were given to architectural firm Populous and Citinea.[12] Construction began in January 2022 and was opened in November 2023.[13][14]
Logos and branding
(The official logo of the club, 2011–2018)
(The official logo of the club, 2018–present)
On September 11, 2018, the club changed its name to LDLC ASVEL for sponsorship reasons. Along with this change, the club changed its main colors from green to black and white.[15] The decision was made with the explanation that, "when you are European, green is a colour that does not make you dream", and was followed by criticism from fans.[16] The new logo, used since 2018, consists of the number four, which refers to ASVEL legend Alain Gilles, while also keeping the V that was used in the previous logo.
_-_2023-12-28_-_23.jpg)
