Zenit had VTB United League's biggest budget but no medal

Zenit had the biggest budget in the VTB United League in 2025/26, at 2.166bn roubles, and finished without a medal. The league published the figures at its annual press conference on Thursday 17 September.

CSKA were second on 2.065bn, 252m less than a season earlier, when they topped the list. Uralmash, the first club outside the top four, spent 729m, 118m more than the year before, and went out in the first round of the play-offs. Kommersant put Zenit's spending at 2.17bn, a quarter of a billion up on the previous season. Even so, the St Petersburg side lost the play-off semi-final and then the bronze-medal series.

The gap between the leading four and the rest is unchanged, though the distance between fourth and fifth place narrowed slightly. Every club, the report says, relies almost entirely on sponsorship or public funding to cover its costs.

Average ticket income per club rose 21% last season.

Lokomotiv-Kuban's place in the table matches their recent form. The club, which play at the 7,000-seat Basket-Hall, beat CSKA in the Super Cup group stage and, by our earlier reports, meet Anadolu Efes in the final.

If the ranking holds next season, Zenit will have to show that spending the most can be turned into a place on the podium. This may also put pressure on Lokomotiv-Kuban to close the gap on the two clubs above them.