Regional Water Polo League

The league was established in 2008 as the Adriatic Water Polo League (Serbo-Croatian: Jadranska vaterpolo liga) and the inaugural 2008–09 season consisted of clubs from Croatia, Montenegro and Slovenia. Members of the inaugural season were Jug, Mladost, Primorje, POŠK, Jadran Split, Medveščak Zagreb, Šibenik, Mornar, Jadran, Primorac, Budva, and Koper. The first league champions were VK Jug.

In the 2009–10 season, Cattaro joined the league and the Final Four was introduced into the league. In the 2011–12 season, the Italian water polo club Pro Recco request to join the Adriatic League was granted and immediately in their first season they became champions, but left the league after the season. The Serbian clubs (Partizan, Crvena zvezda, Radnički and Vojvodina) joined the league in the 2014–15 season.

Starting from the 2015–16 season, second-tier Regional League A2 was introduced.

In February 2019, three team members of Serbian club Crvena zvezda were attacked in Split by Croatian ultra-nationalists, before regional league game against Mornar. The incident was condemned by Croatian and Serbian public, and by many organizations and officials as well. Following the incident, the Water Polo Federation of Serbia and Serbian clubs in competition sought to not play any further games in Split, and competition's Board of Directors made a decision to postpone any further games in Split in which Serbian clubs are included.

Starting with the 2020–21 season, the league is played in different format due to the COVID-19 pandemic, having two groups (2020–21 season with host cities being Belgrade and Dubrovnik, and 2021–22 season with host cities Belgrade and Split) and final tournament (2020–21 host being Zagreb, and 2021–22 host being Belgrade); In 2020–21 season, the Serbian club Radnički eventually won their first championship, thus ending 8-year dominance of the Croatian clubs. In 2021–22 season, the newcomer to the competition, Novi Beograd, lifted its maiden trophy.

In the 2025–26 season, the Regional Water Polo League was not held in its previous format after an agreement could not be reached between the clubs and national federations on the format of the competition. Croatian clubs did not participate in the new regional competition organized for the 2025–26 season by the Water Polo Federation of Serbia and the Water Polo Federation of Montenegro. The new league consisted of eight clubs from Serbia and Montenegro – five from Serbia and three from Montenegro.

One of the outstanding issues in the negotiations was the hosting of Croatian clubs in Kotor, at the Zoran Džimi Gopčević swimming pool. The Croatian side opposed playing at the venue because of its name. The Croatian Ministry of Tourism and Sports had previously recommended that Croatian clubs and the national team not play at the Kotor venue until the issue concerning its name was resolved.

The venue is named after Zoran "Džimi" Gopčević, a former Primorac water polo player and Yugoslav national team member. The Croatian side associated him with service as a guard at the Morinj camp during the war in Croatia, while Montenegrin sources emphasize his sporting legacy and his long-standing contribution to water polo in Kotor and Montenegro.