Partnership aims to elevate sporting landscape for Asian colleges

The Asian University Sports Federation (AUSF) and the sports holding company Realeague have joined forces in a collaboration set to vitalize collegiate basketball in Asia.

The partnership, sealed with a 10-year commitment, was signed in Hong Kong on Friday and aims to establish a collegiate league that will foster camaraderie and competition among the region's top university basketball teams.

Sanctioned by AUSF and operated by Realeague, the new league is scheduled to kick off in the latter half of 2025. Details regarding the annual schedule and participating university teams will be revealed in the upcoming months.

Speaking at the partnership signing ceremony, Seetow Cheng Fave, the secretary-general of AUSF, emphasized the federation's mission of creating platforms for student-athletes across Asian universities to engage, compete and grow together through sports.

"We hope that, through this partnership, we can further strengthen our mission through basketball in particular," he said.

Jintian Jay Li, founder and CEO of Realeague, who once worked at the NBA headquarters in New York and then the CBA, brings with him rich experience in league operations and management.

Last year, Li founded Realeague with a vision to elevate Asian basketball through strategic investments and the organization of cross-regional competitions across professional, collegiate, and youth levels.

In September 2024, the company successfully hosted an Asia-Pacific women's basketball challenge in Haikou, Hainan province, attracting elite teams from China, South Korea and New Zealand.

This time, Li is focusing his energy on college basketball.

Inspired by the fervor surrounding NCAA games in the United States, he believes that Asian college basketball possesses similar untapped potential in terms of popularity and recognition.

"Hong Kong has what it takes to be the sporting capital for college basketball in Asia," said Li.

With the recognition that campus culture matters in college basketball, the new league aims to invite first-class Asian universities, all of which can boast vast alumni networks.

"Hong Kong is a place with a diverse cultural landscape, with alumni from various top Asian universities. We hope that this upcoming league can mobilize these alumni to come and support their alma mater's teams," Li said.

As Kai Tak Sports Park, the largest sports infrastructure project in the special administrative region's history, is expected to open next year, Li envisions the possibility that Hong Kong can become a regular host of some of Asia's most storied college basketball games.