Following a vote by the clubs, the VTB United League has made changes to the format of the 2025–26 season. The two-stage structure of the regular season remains in place, with adjustments made to the composition of the groups in the second stage and the play-in system.
Groups “A” and “B” – six and five teams.
Following the first stage, in which teams compete in a double-round-robin format, home and away; teams will be divided into two groups: Group A, consisting of the six teams ranked 1st through 6th, and Group B, consisting of the five teams ranked 7th through 11th.
In the second stage, the clubs play matches within their respective groups, also in a double round-robin format. Points earned in the first stage carry over and are combined with the results from the second stage.
All six teams in Group A advance directly to the playoffs, having finished in places 1 through 6. The top four teams in Group B are seeded 7th through 10th and advance to the play-in. The team finishing last in Group B ends its season in 11th place.
Play-in: Spots are decided over a two-game series.
A key change is that the play-in now consists of six games, and the winner of each matchup is determined by the aggregate score over the two games. The first game is played on the home court of the team that finished lower in the regular season standings, and the second game is played on the home court of the team that finished higher. If the aggregate score is tied after regulation time in the second game, overtime is played until a winner is determined .
The first matchup features the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds, while the second features the No. 9 and No. 10 seeds. The winner of the first matchup receives the No. 7 seed and advances to the playoffs, while the loser of the second matchup finishes the season in 10th place. The loser of the first matchup faces the winner of the second—this series determines the No. 8 seed and the final spot in the playoffs. The loser finishes in 9th place.
