The 2025-26 EASL season will see an expanded format and schedule, albeit featuring only one PBA team for the first time ever.
It will be a slight refresh for the East Asia Super League for its third home-and-away season.
For the 2025-26 calendar, EASL will feature an expanded 12 teams spread across three groups. The season will open on October 8 and will run until March 22 next year, playing a total of 42 games.
Group A will have Japan B.LEAGUE champion Utsunomiya Brex, alongside P.LEAGUE+’s Taipei Fubon Braves, the KBL’s Seoul SK Knights, and Hong Kong Eastern representing Hong Kong SAR as its champion.
The Braves and SK Knights emerged as 2024-25 runner-ups in their respective domestic leagues.
In Group B, P.LEAGUE+ champion and 2025 EASL runner-up Taoyuan Pauian Pilots lead the way, followed by Japan Emperor’s Cup champion Ryukyu Golden Kings, and the Macau Black Bears as champion of Macau SAR.
A yet-to-be announced PBA team will complete Group B.
This EASL season marks the first time that only one PBA team will compete, as Filipino teams have been a fixture in all but one EASL-organized tournaments.
The last time only one Filipino team competed in the EASL was in 2018, when the Dioceldo Sy-backed iECO Green Warriors saw action in The Terrific 12.
In the 2018 Super 8, NLEX and Blackwater represented the PBA, with the Road Warriors making the semifinals. Blackwater returned for the 2019 The Terrific 12 together with TNT and San Miguel, with the Beermen also making the semis.
The PBA was represented by San Miguel and TNT in the 2023 Champions Week. As the EASL transitioned into its home-and-away format, the SMB (2024-25), TNT (2023-24), and the Meralco Bolts (2023-24 & 2024-25) carried the PBA banner.
Meanwhile, KBL champion Changwon LG Sakers lead Group C of the new EASL season, together with TPBL champion New Taipei Kings, and the Xac Broncos as Mongolian champions. Alvark Tokyo complete the cast, qualifying by way of making the Emperor’s Cup Finals as part of EASL’s expansion.
Aside from a new grouping structure, the EASL postseason format also received a tweak, with the top-2 teams from each group making the new “Round of 6” to replace the traditional Final Four. Notably, the EASL will crown a new champion with this altered format, as the 2025 winner Hiroshima Dragonflies failed to make the cut.
The EASL schedule will feature weekend games for the first time in a bid to drive fan access. The Philippines will host its first EASL of the new season on November 8.