PBA formalizes multi-year partnership with East Asia Super League

The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) has formalized a multi-year partnership it inked with the East Asia Super League where it will be joined by other elite basketball leagues across the region.

In a statement Wednesday, EASL said PBA clubs will compete against squads hailing from Japan B. League, Korean Basketball League (KBL), and Chinese Taipei P. League+ along with a top-seeded Greater China team in Hong Kong SAR for a new pan-regional tournament.

"EASL has received buy-ins from some of basketball’s most established statesmen, securing investment, as well as brand ambassador and strategic advisory support from NBA stars Baron Davis, Metta World Peace and Shane Battier," the statement read.

Top sports industry businesspeople "including NBA agent Bill Duffy, and blue-chip institutional sports-focused funds, including The Raine Group, along with Asia’s top family offices and high net worth individuals" have also signed their buy-in.

The set-up will have the eight teams split into two groups of four and play in a round-robin format. The competition features a USD 1 million prize money.

Each team plays a home-and-away game in their group for a total of 24 games during the group stage set from October 2022 to February 2023.

The top two teams from each group will advance to the Final Four and play in a knockout semifinals duel. The championship matches, meanwhile, are slated for March 2023. 

"Following four successful large-scale invitational tournaments from 2017-2019, including the The Terrific 12 two years ago with 117 million viewers on 36 platforms, EASL is proud to take the next step to elevate the sport of basketball in Asia and be Asia's premier pan-regional league." — LA, GMA News