A rendering of the Kai Tak indoor arena
Featured Image Credit: Kai Tak Sports Park / Populous
Basketball team Hong Kong Eastern is in discussions to compete in The Philippines as the team seeks an eventual place in China’s top league ahead of the $4bn Kai Tak Sports Park’s grand opening.
According to a South China Morning Post report, Hong Kong Eastern – the reigning local A1 Division champion – is looking for a roadmap towards one day playing the top-tier Chinese Basketball Association. The team is in the early stage of talks regarding a spot in the Philippines Basketball Association’s (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup during the 2024-25 season, which begins in November.
Eastern officials hope that their six home games would be played at the under-construction Kai Tak Sports Park, which will feature a 10,000-capacity indoor arena. However, SCMP reports, it is uncertain whether the necessary licences would be secured in time. Kai Tak Sports Park is nearing completion, with a test period at the end of this year and its official opening in 2025.
“This is part of our plans to support the government’s calls for the development of the sports industry,” Oliver Lee Wan-bok, the team’s manager, told SMCP. “We wish to bring competitive regional basketball to the city when Kai Tak Sports Park opens.
“We want to play in the PBA as well as the East Asia Super League [EASL] and our ultimate goal remains playing in the Chinese Basketball Association. We believe it’s a good idea to continue seeking regional exposure and play in the highest possible standard of basketball while we wait for progress on the mainland China front.”
The Commissioner’s Cup is expected to feature 12 teams, divided into two groups of six in a home-and-away format, giving each team 12 regular season games which ends on January 31.
“The Philippines is a basketball-crazy country,” Lee said. “With our experiences of hosting Asean Basketball League matches, and what we witnessed when Hong Kong hosted the Philippines in the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers [in February], we are confident we can fill stadiums.
“Basketball remains one of the most popular sports in Hong Kong, and with the visiting fans from respective Philippines’ cities, we believe we could fill up to 80 per cent of Kai Tak’s indoor arena capacity.”
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