2018 had been nothing but fruitful for the Asia League.
After only having one activity in 2017, the Macau-hosted league had successfully ran both of their tournaments this year — the all-local Summer Super 8 back in July, and the import-laden Terrific 12 back in September.
And during the course of the Terrific 12, the league also found success in having the best of both worlds in sports and entertainment with the Asia League Fest, where the the top music acts across the continent gathered for one night.
But it doesn’t mean they’re about to rest on their laurels anytime soon.
The league is now looking for bigger things to come in 2019, such as the rebranding of the Summer Super 8 to being the Macau International Summer League, which is inspired by the NBA’s Las Vegas Summer League.
“The point of rebranding is that we created a brand that’s focused on staying in the Macau market,” explained Asia League’s amiable chief executive officer Matt Beyer during a visit here in Manila early this December.
“Macau is very interested in diversifying their economy beyond just gaming into something that has entertainment, sports, culture, etcetera. So the government, up until now, has been our largest sponsor, and we’re going to evolve into having more corporate sponsors as time goes on.
“We want to have a property that can stay in Macau for long-term, so the Summer League makes the most sense,” Beyer furthered.
With the rebranding comes the change in the tourney’s format. From having eight teams with only local players allowed, the Summer League will see 12 teams reinforced with imports that will be chosen through a draft proceeding.
“We also want to expand the scope of it from eight to twelve teams, and add in a draft for import players which us as the Asia League company we provide each team with an import player, so twelve teams, twelve import players in total,” the visionary shared.
“Each of the players are picked through the draft, which we provide the pool of players, and then the team selects. We can create a lot of warm-up for this online or with fans so there’s more interaction,” Beyer explained.
“Fans can vote on who they think is best for the team, etcetera.”
Another highlight of the Summer League is the exhibition match among the best under-18 players in the region, which will be called the Stars of Tomorrow — Filipino 7-foot prodigy Kai Sotto joining such will be a strong possibility.
“We’re also going to be adding a game which will be the Stars of Tomorrow, and that will bring together some of the best under-eighteen (years old) players from around the region to play in a Combine, as well as an All-Star game,” Beyer said.
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But as excited as they are for the coming year, the league is also looking at the years ahead.
Beyer expressed his idea of having an Asian version of the Champions League that is being held in Europe, where the top club teams in the continent will vie for supremacy. And they plan to have it started come 2020.
“What we’re planning is a home-and-away model that’s similar to what you would see right now in football with UEFA Champions League or AFC Champions League. Or to some degree EuroLeague, where you’re bringing the top teams from each of the leagues to play in a home-and-away model,” he said.
“What we look at for that is starting in Year One and Year Two of that beginning in 2020, eight teams total, split into two groups of four, within the groups each team plays a home-and-away against each of the other competitor. So in total, each team would see six games during the regular season, and then we go to a Final Four in one of the Asian cities. And that Final Four can rotate every year,” he added.
“And Year Three we’re going to expand to sixteen teams, and then from there, we’re playing home-and-away within the groups, and instead of two small groups we go to four small groups, and then we finish with the Final Four. That model too gives us an opportunity — long-term — to be looking at say what the AFC Champions League does which is East and West zones. We could have a parallel structure running in West Asia as well and then they meet together in the Final Four at the end of the year,” he expounded.
‘There’s a lot of possibility. Asia’s a big place. If you look at FIBA, they manage 46 countries and territories, so a lot of members to draw talent from. But we want to start with something realistic, and whats realistic about putting the Philippines together with China, Japan, Korea, Chinese Taipei is that the travel time is very minimal.
“The competition is very well-matched, and thats whats important. Were not trying to kill anyone with the travel and we also want it to be exciting games for the fans,” Beyer furthered.
But then, things have yet to be polished, and that that they have yet to reach an agreement with FIBA regarding such as that grand idea might collide with the governing body’s own calendar, which had also undergone a major change.
“We kinda have to determine also our current discussions with FIBA about what is the best arrangement for us to continue. Because we are partnered with FIBA — we are FIBA-sanctioned, so we need to also talk with them about… Yea there’s a calendar, because they have national team competition, they also have the Asia Champions Cup.
“So, we need to figure out a sustainable ecosystem where we help FIBA and they help us. That’s what were working on right now,” said Beyer.
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The Asia League has always been very vocal of wanting more ball clubs from the Philippine Basketball Association to participate in their contests. And even with a successful year, that desire of theirs remains the same.
The PBA was well-represented in the Summer Super 8, as the NLEX Road Warriors and the Blackwater Elite used it to prepare for the Governors’ Cup. NLEX made the semis, while Blackwater had a great run in the conference.
“We would like to have as many PBA teams as possible. For the summer, our goal would be to have three teams,” said Beyer. “And for September, we’re looking again at two to three teams that make up that composite of twelve teams total.
“[But] We have to see if that’s something which the PBA and the board of governors supports and coming here and meeting with the commissioner as well as different teams helps us push that goal along further.”
But as challenging as it may seem, Beyer said that the dialogue between them and the PBA has been positive so far. “Dialogue has been very positive. But we understand that it takes time to build trust and familiarity with each other.
‘We’ve been lucky that there’s been certain teams that have taken the risk of working with us and trusted us with their teams to participate in the events. And I think the teams that have participated have been good ambassadors for us in the governors and with the league.
“I mean, the point is, is that if we’re able to provide a good experience for the teams, then they can talk to teams and it helps us with the dialogue with the league — the bigger dialogue. But I think everything has been positive,” he closed.
