Basketball Africa League announces host cities for inaugural season
The Basketball Africa League has announced Lagos, Luanda, Cairo, Dakar, Rabat, and Tunis as the host cities for the inaugural League.
The regular season will take place and Kigali as the host city for the first-ever BAL Final and BAL Final Four.
Additionally, the League revealed that Jordan and NIKE Brand will be the exclusive outfitter of the new professional league which features 12 club teams across Africa.
The league is scheduled to begin by March 2020.
As this announcement was revealed by BAL President, Amadou Gallo Fall, the NBA and FIBA also plan to dedicate financial support and resources toward the continued development of Africa’s basketball ecosystem
Quoting the President:
“Today’s announcements mark another important milestone as we head into what will be a historic first season for the Basketball Africa League”.
“We now have seven great host cities where we will play and our first partnership with a world-class outfitter. We thank our first partners NIKE and Jordan Brand for supporting us on this journey and ensuring our teams have the best uniforms and on-court products.”
Starting from March next year, the six cities will host a regular-season that will feature 12 teams divided into two conferences, with each conference playing in three cities.
The regular season will see the 12 teams play five games each for a total of 30 games, with the top three teams in each conference qualifying for the playoffs.
The announcement about the NBA and FIBA’s launch of the BAL would mark the NBA’s first collaboration to operate a league outside of North America.
Also, the duo disclosed plans to dedicate financial support and resources toward the continued development of Africa’s basketball ecosystem.
The support includes training for players, coaches and referees, and infrastructure investment.
