East Asia Super League still eyeing spot among basketball elite, says chief, who believes China clubs hold key to growth
- League CEO Henry Kerins says first full season has ‘proved the concept’ despite fluctuating attendances
- Kerins plans talks with Chinese Basketball Association as EASL explores further expansion
The head of the East Asia Super League says the organisation still believes it can become one of the top basketball competitions in the world, but acknowledges that expansion will not happen as soon as they hope.
A week after the league’s first full season ended, Henry Kerins, its co-founder and CEO, said despite fluctuating attendances and the lack of Chinese teams, the past few months had “proved the concept”.
But he also said the move to double the number of teams involved to 16 and games to 52 would not happen in the 2024-25 season as originally planned.
Instead, the coming season would keep the same format of eight teams, with two each from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines again competing in a 24-game regular season that would begin in October, and end with a final four next year.
“That structure has delivered amazing games of basketball that have engaged increasing numbers of fans across East Asia as the season went on,” he said. “The basics of having a great sports entertainment product are there.”
But according to the league’s own records, attendances fluctuated across the various countries.
