“East Asia - THE TERRIFIC 12” ticket sales launch on 31 July

12 of East Asia’s elite clubs return to Macao for 2019 championship

[Macao SAR-JULY 30, 2019] – Co-organized by Sports Bureau of Macao SAR Government and Asia League , ”East Asia Super League - THE TERRIFIC 12” basketball tournament will be held from 17-22 September, 2019 at the Tap Seac Multisport Pavilion in Macao. The co- organizers announced the tournament and ticketing details during press conference earlier today.

“East Asia Super League - THE TERRIFIC 12” is a FIBA recognised basketball tournament with expanding scale .The 2019 tournament features 12 premier East Asian club sides from East Asia’s top professional leagues to compete for championship in Macao including Flying Leopards, Shenzhen Aviators and Zhejiang Guangsha Lions from the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA); Chiba Jets, Albirex Basketball, , and from ’s B.LEAGUE; Blackwater Elite, The and TNT KaTropa from the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA); and KCC Egis and SK Knights from the (KBL).

Guo Ailun (), Makoto Hiejima (Utsunomiya Brex), Sunhyung Kim (Seoul SK Knights) and (San Miguel Beermen) are amongst the biggest names in different East Asian basketball leagues that will be featuring in the tournament , with each competing team also entitled to name two foreign import players to their rosters for the tournament.

Mr. Pun Weng Kun, President of the Sports Bureau of Macao SAR Government stated “The Sports Bureau is committed to the continued development of the Macao sports scene and the hosting of large-scale international sports events like "East Asia Super League - THE TERRIFIC 12", which engage the entire community and provide a great boost to the development of basketball in Macao. We are also confident that the event will once again attract fans of these basketball clubs from across the region to the city, reinforcing Macao’s growing reputation for sports tourism.”

Asia League ’s CEO, Matthew Beyer, also commented on today’s announcement saying, “We are confident that this year’s tournament will continue to go from strength to strength - and with its staging immediately after the FIBA World Cup in this September, "East Asia Super League - THE TERRIFIC 12" will take interest in the game to new levels in Macao and across East Asia. Once again, 12 of the top professional teams from China, Japan, Korea and the have signed up for the challenge of the tournament, bringing their top domestic players and 2 imported players to Macao."

“I am sure that everyone is as excited as I am to watch them in action in Macao and that the world-class basketball on offer will draw fans from across the region to experience the atmosphere and cheer for their favorite teams and stars in person.”

The teams will be pooled into four Groups of three for the initial Group Stage (17-19 September), followed by the Semi-Finals (21 September) and Finals (22 September) with the 2019 champion decided after 16 epic games. In the single round-robin Group Stage, each team will play two games with the top team from each group advancing to the Semi-Finals (21 September) following a rest day on 20 September to compete for two final spots on 22 September.

Ticket prices for the group stage are set at MOP 50 for standard ticket and MOP 100 for courtside seat ticket.

Semi-finals and Final tickets are MOP 200 for standard ticket and MOP 400 for courtside seat ticket. Full five-day tournament packages are also available at MOP 400 (standard ticket).

Tickets are available for purchase from 31 July through the following three ways : 1. Online purchasing via following online ticketing platforms: (a)Macau Ticketing (b)DaMai Tickets (c)Qupiaowang (d)228.com.cn

2. Retail outlets of Macau Ticketing

3. On-site ticketing counter of Macau Ticketing at the Tap Seac Multisport Pavilion ( available on 17,18,19,21 &22 September)

An early-bird discount of 15% is also available for two weeks (31 Jul – 13 Aug) following today’s announcement.

Macao resident can enjoy a special 20% discount on all ticket purchases while students in Macao schools and people aged 65 or over will receive 50% off the listed prices.

For more information on Asia League or the “East Asia Super League - THE TERRIFIC 12” , follow the below website and social media pages for the latest updates: • Official website: www.eastasiasuperleague.com • Facebook: www.facebook.com/eastasiasuperleague/ • Instagram: www.instagram.com/eastasiasuperleague/ • Twitter: www.twitter.com/EASLofficial • Sina Weibo: www.weibo.com/u/6274381383 • Douyin: Search for ID “159972806” • WeChat: Search for public account “East Asia Super League” • Jinri Toutiao: “East Asia Super League”

For enquiries or more information about East Asia Super League - The Terrific 12, please contact below personnel for different markets: China – Maggie Tang; [email protected] Hong Kong –Sean Moore [email protected], Andy Yeung; [email protected] Japan – Dai Nakamura; [email protected] Korea – Steve Han; [email protected] Philippines – [email protected]

Please refer to appendix for more details about tournament schedule and ticketing information. ### Appendix: “East Asia Super League - THE TERRIFIC 12” Tournament Schedule:

TOURNAMENT GROUPING

GROUP A GROUP B GROUP C GROUP D

Liaoning Flying Blackwater Elite Ryukyu Golden Kings Jeonju KCC Egis Leopards Niigata Albirex Chiba Jets San Miguel Beermen Utsunomiya Brex Basketball Zhejiang Guangsha Seoul SK Knights Shenzhen Aviators TNT KaTropa Lions TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE - GROUP STAGE

17/9 Tuesday 18/9 Wednesday 19/9 Thursday 20/9 Friday

Tip-off 12:00 Press Conference n/a n/a

Niigata Albirex Seoul SK Knights Jeonju KCC Egis Basketball vs. vs. 15:00 15:00 15:00 vs. Blackwater Elite Utsunomiya Brex TNT KaTropa Rest Day

Zhejiang Guangsha Blackwater Elite Chiba Jets Lions vs. vs. 17:00 vs. 17:00 17:00 and Chiba Jets Seoul SK Knights Jeonju KCC Egis

Liaoning Flying San Miguel Final Four Press Shenzen Aviators Leopards Beermen vs. Conference vs. vs. 19:00 San Miguel 19:00 1900 Time 17:00 (TBC Niigata Albirex Ryukyu Golden ) Beermen Basketball Kings

TNT KaTropa Utsunomiya Brex Ryukyu Golden Kings vs. vs. vs. 21:00 Liaoning Flying 21:00 21:00 Zhejiang Guangsha Shenzen Aviators Leopards Lions “East Asia Super League - The TERRIFIC 12” Ticketing Information

Tickets are available for purchase from 31 July through the following three ways : 1.Online purchasing via following online ticketing platforms: (a)Macau Ticketing (b)DaMai Tickets (c)Qupiaowang (d)228.com.cn.

2.Retail outlets of Kong Seng (Macau Ticketing)

3.. On-site ticketing counter of Macau Ticketing at the Tap Seac Multisport Pavilion (Available on 17,18,19,21 &22 September)

Ticketing Price

Ticket Type Standard Ticket Courtside Seat Ticket Group Stage MOP 50 MOP 100 (17-19 September) Semi-Finals (21 September) & MOP 200 MOP 400 Finals (22 September) 5 days package MOP 400 N/A (17-22 September)

Ticketing Discount

Discount Type Discount Applicable Persons Applicable Methods Early Bird Available for all audience from 31 Jul to 13 Aug on 15% off Discount Macau Ticketing website and retail outlets Discount available on Macao Citizen 20% off Valid Macao ID holders Macau Ticketing website Discount and retail outlets or purchasing via on-site Macao Student Valid Macao student 50% off Macau ticketing booth at Discount card holders Tap Seac Multisport Pavilion, Macao Macao Senior (Audience have to show Valid Macao ID holders Citizen 50% off their valid identity aged 65 or above Discount documentation to enjoy the discount. ) Participating leagues and teams information :

Chinese Basketball Association (CBA)

Year Founded: 1995 Commissioner/Chairman: Yao Ming

Founder: - No. of Teams: 20

Approximate Schedule:

Early November to early May - Regular season: early November – mid-March - Playoffs: mid-March – early May

League Description:

In 1987, then-commissioner of the NBA, David Stern, reached a deal with CCTV to broadcast NBA games in China. What followed was the growth of a passionate basketball fan-base spearheaded by Yao Ming’s success in the NBA. The Chinese Basketball Association debuted in 1995 is now considered the top league in Asia and has become the world’s second-highest- paying basketball league.

The 2018–19 season was the 24th season of the CBA. The regular season expands from 38 games to 46 games, while the playoffs expand from 10 teams to 12 teams.

The country’s top league has made huge strides these past few years, especially under the recent leadership of chairman Yao Ming. Foreign media and talent is taking notice: Players with a collective 11,000-plus games of NBA experience passed through the CBA last season, including 10 McDonald’s All-Americans, five NCAA champions and 19 first-round picks.

Foreign Players Rule:

With exception of the Bayi Chinese Military team (which is not allowed to have import players), each team in the CBA can sign two non-Asian imports. There are no restrictions on position, age, height, etc. The import players are allowed to play a combined six quarters (60 minutes) per game, but at most one player can stay on court during the fourth quarter.

Teams are allowed two foreign imports, but teams that finished within the bottom three in the previous season can have the option for a third Asian import.

Viewership / Attendance:

China is the nation that can never get enough basketball. The country now has more than 450 million NBA viewers and over 300 million basketball players. It’s no surprise that the CBA now has die-hard fan groups.

Social Media Following:

Weibo: Toutiao: Douyin: 2.1M followers 140K followers 160K followers CBA联赛 Chinese Basketball Association (CBA)

Year Founded: 1995 Commissioner/Chairman: Yao Ming

Founder: - No. of Teams: 20 Chinese Basketball Association (CBA)

Year Founded: 1995 Commissioner/Chairman: Yao Ming

Founder: - No. of Teams: 20 B.LEAGUE (Japan)

Year Founded: 2015 Commissioner/Chairman: Masaaki Okawa

Founder: Saburo Kawabuchi No. of Teams: 18

Approximate Season Schedule:

Early October to early May - Regular season: early October – late April - Playoffs: end of April – early May

League Description:

Founded in 2015, B.LEAGUE is the merge of Japan Basketball Association and , which were originally established in 1930 and 2005 respectively. 36 teams from the 1st and 2nd division (18 in each division) are professional teams, which they are further divided into 3 conferences, playing 60 games in the regular season.

The top 2 teams from each conference will be in the playoffs, as well as the 2 teams that finish with the best record but do not finish in the top 2 of their conference.

Foreign Players Rule:

Each club in the first and second divisions will be allowed up to three registered foreign players, excluding one foreign-born player who has become a naturalized Japanese citizen. Two foreign players will be allowed on the court. Naturalized players can play as Japanese citizens and have no limitations. Each club will be allowed one naturalized player.

Viewership / Attendance:

Attendance figures released in December 2014 by the bj-league and NBL showed that only six of their combined 35 teams averaged at least 2,000 fans at their home games at that in the season.

By comparison, 17 of 18 B1 clubs averaged 2,000-plus fans a game this season, with nine topping the 3,000 mark.

The top three were Chiba (5,190), Tochigi (3,951) and (3,693) through mid- April, according to the league’s latest marketing report.

What’s more, eight first-division teams had an increase of 8 percent or more in average attendance from 2017-18. More than 2.5 million fans attended B1 games this season, an increase of 3.6 percent from last season.

Attendance totals increased for the second year in a row.

Social Media Following:

Facebook Instagram Twitter 136K likes 111K followers 241K followers B.LEAGUE (Japan)

Year Founded: 2015 Commissioner/Chairman: Masaaki Okawa

Founder: Saburo Kawabuchi No. of Teams: 18 B.LEAGUE (Japan)

Year Founded: 2015 Commissioner/Chairman: Masaaki Okawa

Founder: Saburo Kawabuchi No. of Teams: 18 Korean Basketball League (KBL)

Year Founded: 1997 Commissioner/Chairman: Lee Jung-dae

Founder: N/A No. of Teams: 10

Approximate Season Schedule:

Mid-October to end of April - Regular season: mid-October – mid-March - Playoffs: mid-March – end of April

League Description:

Founded in 1997, the KBL now consists of 10 teams.

The regular season contains 54 games, where home and away games occupy evenly.

6 teams with the best records will compete in the playoffs.

Foreign Players Rule:

The regulations for foreign basketball players in the Korea Basketball League have been changed recently. Starting from the 2019-2020 season, under the new rules, while teams may have two foreign players on their roster, only one foreign player can be on the court at any one time.

In addition, the height limitation of 200cm for tall players and 186cm for short players and the rule preventing players who have played in more than 10 games in the NBA over the past 3 seasons from playing in the KBL have been abolished.

Viewership / Attendance:

KBL has been a leader in Korean professional sports while having the most spectators - over a million every year. The league recorded the highest seat occupancy rate among all professional sports in Korea in 2013-14 season.

Social Media Following:

Facebook Instagram 29K likes 15.9K followers Korean Basketball League (KBL)

Year Founded: 1997 Commissioner/Chairman: Lee Jung-dae

Founder: N/A No. of Teams: 10 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA)

Year Founded: 1975 Commissioner/Chairman: Willie Marcial

Founder: Eddie Elias No. of Teams: 12

Approximate Season Schedule:

Philippine Cup – Mid-January to mid-May Commissioner’s Cup – Late May to mid-July Governors’ Cup – Mid-August to mid-December

League Description:

Established in 1975, PBA is the 1st Asia professional basketball league and the 2nd oldest continuously professional basketball league existing after the NBA. While the league has mixed regulations from both the NBA and FIBA, teams compete for 3 cups instead of a “season champion” – the Commissioner’s Cup, Governors’ Cup, and Philippine Cup every season, with the Philippines Cup being the most prominent honor.

Foreign Players Rule:

Non-Filipinos can play as “imports” and only in certain conferences, the Commissioner’s Cup and the Governors’ Cup.

The Commissioner’s Cup allows teams to hire imports no taller than 6’10”.

In the Governors’ Cup, imports within the height limit of 6’5” are allowed to play.

Viewership / Attendance:

The PBA reported season highs in viewership on Facebook Live in of the Philippine Cup finals 2019 between San Miguel and getting more than 260,000 viewers with those watching the match by an average of 57 minutes.

The game was reached by 5.6 million viewers, while all Game Seven related viewer content reached three million. Social Media Following:

Facebook Instagram Twitter 4 million likes 323K followers 294K followers Philippine Basketball Association (PBA)

Year Founded: 1975 Commissioner/Chairman: Willie Marcial

Founder: Eddie Elias No. of Teams: 12 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA)

Year Founded: 1975 Commissioner/Chairman: Willie Marcial

Founder: Eddie Elias No. of Teams: 12