BEIRUT and HONG KONG - East Asia Super League (EASL) has announced the format of its inaugural home-and-away season pan-regional format, beginning October 2022, with eight teams from the Japan B.LEAGUE, Korea KBL, Philippines PBA and the Chinese Taipei P.LEAGUE+, as well as a team the league is seeding in Hong Kong.

With the support of a ten-year agreement with FIBA granting FIBA Asia’s recognition, EASL has formed East Asia’s first club league to determine the region’s champion, which will win a USD 1 million prize and the title of being the champion of EASL.

“EASL is honored to be the hub of East Asian basketball, bringing the best of the best of the region’s club teams together in an elite competition, supported by long-term agreements with FIBA and Asia’s top leagues,” said EASL CEO Matt Beyer. “Our mission is to be East Asia’s premier basketball league, with a vision to be one of the top three leagues globally by 2025 in terms of fan base and commercial revenue.”

EASL’s Season 1 of home-and-away competition will have eight teams in total, playing with a 12-man roster with two foreign players and an additional Asian player. The champions and runners-up from the previous Japan B.LEAGUE, Korea KBL and Philippines PBA seasons will qualify to compete in EASL. The field will be completed by the newly formed Bay Area Chun Yu Phoenixes and the championship team from Chinese Taipei’s P.LEAGUE+.

“In line with the global FIBA strategic objective to shape international competitions, the FIBA Executive Committee has backed the formation of East Asia Super League. The smooth and professional cooperation during the past several years between EASL and our Regional Office Asia as well as with our National Federations and Leagues in the region, has paved the way to recognise this dynamic competition platform, that will fit well with FIBA’s club properties in Asia and worldwide.” said FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis. 

“In the spirit of the development of basketball in East Asia, the FIBA Asia Board fully backed the formation of East Asia Super League. This new competition has the potential to enrich the road to the FIBA Asia Champions Cup, the continent’s highest club competition and will act as good complement to it, providing a great basketball platform for clubs in the East-Asia Sub-Zone of FIBA and the Philippines.” said FIBA Executive Director Asia Hagop Khajirian.

The eight teams split into two groups of four play a round-robin format. Each team plays a home and away game against their group, six games each, for a total of 24 games during group stage from October 2022 to February 2023, with two EASL Group Stage games taking place every Wednesday night. The top two teams in the standings from each group advance to the Final Four and play in sudden death Final Four and Championship matches in March 2023.  

The Final Four Weekend will take place in one of East Asia’s premier cities, featuring a music festival and a variety of fan activation activities. The Final Four Weekend will rotate on an annual basis.

FIBA