HONG KONG SAR – Hong Kong Eastern and the Macau Black Bears will compete in the East Asia Super League 2024-25 Season, in a major expansion of East Asia’s professional club basketball championship.
The teams will play their home games in Hong Kong and Macau, respectively, bringing a full season of EASL action to the Greater Bay Area for the first time.
The addition of Hong Kong Eastern and the Macau Black Bears increases the number of competing teams in the EASL 2024-25 Season from eight to 10 teams and ramps up representation from
Greater China.
The Hong Kong and Macau sides will face the best teams from Chinese Taipei, Japan, Korea, and the Philippines to decide East
Asia’s champion.
Eastern is one of Hong Kong’s most storied teams and is the reigning domestic champion. The team won its third domestic A1 Division title in 2023. Hong Kong Eastern is also a two-time winner of the ASEAN Basketball League (2016-17 and 2023).
Eastern has been placed into Group A for the 2024-25 Season Group Stage, in which it will play against B.LEAGUE champions Hiroshima Dragonflies, Korean Basketball League (KBL) runner-up Suwon KT Sonicboom, P. LEAGUE+ runners-up Taoyuan Pauian Pilots, and PBA Governors’ Cup champions San Miguel Beermen.
The Macau Black Bears, on the other hand, were formed in 2018 as Macau’s first-ever professional team. The team is the reigning Macau basketball league champion and has also represented the region in the ASEAN Basketball League and The Asia Tournament.
The Black Bears have been placed into Group B for the 2024-25 Season Group Stage, in which they will play against B.LEAGUE runners-up Ryukyu Golden Kings, KBL champion Busan KCC Egis, P .LEAGUE+ champions New Taipei Kings, and PBA Philippine Cup champions Meralco Bolts.
Full details on the matchups for the EASL 2024-25 Season will be unveiled when the game schedule is announced in the coming weeks. The arena venues for the home games of Eastern and the Black Bears will also be announced soon.
“EASL is getting bigger and it’s getting better. It was always our ambition to expand and bring in more leagues, representing more regions in Asia. We have accelerated those plans due to the strong demand from the regional leagues to join and their readiness to do so,” EASL CEO Henry Kerins said.
Hong Kong Eastern team leader Wilson Choi said Hong Kong has been striving hard for a professional basketball team to represent the city at the highest level.
“Hong Kong Eastern will do that, as we take on East Asia’s best teams in the EASL 2024-25 Season. Eastern wants to be a major force in Asian basketball and to put Hong Kong on the map as a basketball powerhouse,” Choi said.
After its groundbreaking first season in 2023-24, the EASL is preparing to make history again in 2024-25. The game schedule will set out an epic series of matches across some of the greatest cities and biggest basketball markets in East Asia.
The EASL will also be announcing commercial partnerships with a host of brands and broadcasters.
The league presents a unique opportunity for commercial partners to align with the most exciting new professional sports project in Asia and to access the region’s massive, youthful, and growing basketball audience.
An expanded series of broadcast and streaming partnerships will enable more fans than ever, in East Asia and around the world, to watch live as the best teams and players in the region clash for the championship in
2024-25. / PNA / PR