Owner of Australian NBL team Illawarra Hawks, Crest Sport & Entertainment (Crest SE), welcomes East Asia Super League expansion to 10 teams as Hong Kong Eastern and Macau Black Bears enter 2024-25 Season

Owner of Australian NBL team Illawarra Hawks, Crest Sport & Entertainment (Crest SE), welcomes East Asia Super League expansion to 10 teams as Hong Kong Eastern and Macau Black Bears enter 2024-25 Season 

East Asia set for unprecedented club basketball championship with  
entry of Greater China teams 

Hong Kong SAR, August 14, 2024 – 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 ten teams, and ramps up representation from Greater China.  

The Hong Kong and Macau sides will face off against the best teams from Chinese Taipei, Japan, Korea and the Philippines, to decide East Asia’s champion. 

EASL CEO Henry Kerins said “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.” 

Crest SE, owner of the Illawarra Hawks NBL team in Australia and a shareholder in EASL, welcomed this announcement with Crest SE CEO Mr. Stu Taggart commenting, “The inclusion of two powerful teams from two amazing cities, in one of the biggest basketball markets in the world – China’s Greater Bay Area – is another exciting step for EASL after a groundbreaking first season in 2023-24. This development is also timely in a week where the Illawarra Hawks have welcomed CBA team Shanghai Sharks to Australia to play in a pre-season match in Wollongong to foster basketball relationships across Asia-Pacific. We are excited to continue partnering with the EASL Board, Henry Kerins, and the entire executive team to help further accelerate EASL’s ambitious vision to become one of the world’s top professional basketball leagues.” 

EASL will also be soon announcing an expanded series of broadcast and streaming partnerships which 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. 

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.  

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 For more information about this release or any other media queries about the EASL, please contact: 

• Global PR – mmorgan@easl.basketball 

• China Mainland – hudezhong@easl.basketball 

• Chinese Taipei – olivia@easl.basketball 

• Japan – akihito@easl.basketball 

• Korea – changoh@easl.basketball 

• Philippines – banj@easl.basketball 

 About East Asia Super League 

East Asia Super League (EASL) is the champions league of East Asian basketball. Combining the best clubs, from the best leagues, with best-in-class production values, EASL’s vision is to become one of the world’s top professional basketball leagues. At the same time, the league aims to elevate the sport of basketball across the East Asia region. 

EASL operates with an exclusive long-term agreement with FIBA, the world governing body for basketball, granting FIBA Asia’s recognition. It also operates under agreements with the East Asia region’s leading basketball leagues, securing the participation of their teams.  

For more information about East Asia Super League, please visit www.EASL.basketball or any of our social media channels: 

GLOBAL – ENGLISH LANGUAGE: 

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/asia-league-limited/ 

TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@easlofficial  

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/eastasiasuperleague/  

YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/eastasiasuperleague  

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/eastasiasuperleague/ 

Twitter – https://twitter.com/EASLofficial 

CHINA – SIMPLIFIED CHINESE: 

Douyin – https://v.douyin.com/J6WsChK/  (ID: EASL)  

Kuaishou – https://v.kuaishou.com/7HGRpT  (ID: EastAsiaSuperLeague) 

Sina Weibo – https://www.weibo.com/asialeague?is_hot=1  

WeChat – search “东亚超级联赛” 

GREATER CHINA – TRADITIONAL CHINESE: 

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/easl_zh/ 

JAPAN: 

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/easl_jp/  

Twitter – https://twitter.com/EASLofficial_jp  

KOREA: 

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/easl_kr/ 

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/EASLKorea/ 

TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@easl_kr