ASEAN basketball is ready for the big time.

The Asean Basketball League, an initiative between private investors from various industries and the Southeast Asia Basketball Association, was recently launched with the aim of creating a regional basketball tournament that would be open to professional teams owned and operated by private owners.

The league took inspiration from the success of the recent Challenge Series held in Singapore and Indonesia, where crowds of up to 8,000 fans have flocked to stadiums to watch the action of inter-Asean basketball rivalry between professional basketball teams from around the region.

Asean provides a regional platform with a population base of 600 million people. The ABL seeks to provide a whole new level of action and entertainment to fans as well as to create more commercial opportunities for teams and sponsors alike.

The ABL will be made up of professional franchise teams hosted by cities in each Asean member-country. The teams will be privately owned, with each franchise holder resorting to their own revenue streams to raise the needed funds. Key revenue sources will be sponsorship, hospitality programs, licensing and merchandising and venue utilization.

Those interested in owning a franchise can get more information by contacting the general secretary of the Seaba, Dato Yeoh Choo Hock. Team owners will be chosen based on several criteria, including experience, financial stability, business plan of running and sustaining a team and commitment to the development of the game. Matt Ardina