The Meralco Bolts will replace Barangay Ginebra as one of the two PBA teams in the East Asia Super League which unwraps on Oct. 11

The Bolts are in Group B comprised of B.LEAGUE champions Ryukyu Golden Kings, Korean Basketball League (KBL) runners-up Seoul SK Knights, and P. LEAGUE+ runners-up New Taipei Kings.

The Gin Kings became the second team to beg off from the league after the disbandment of the Bay Area Dragons.

Group A features Japan B.LEAGUE runners-up Chiba Jets, Korean Basketball League (KBL) champions Anyang Jung Kwan Jang Red Boosters, Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup champions TNT Tropang Giga, and P. LEAGUE+ champions Taipei Fubon Braves.

The EASL 2023-24 Season will involve 28 games, taking place between October this year until March 10, 2024. 

 Chinese Taipei superstar Jeremy Lin announced on Thursday he is joining the New Taipei Kings. Jeremy will line up alongside his brother Joseph for the Kings this season in a development that will thrill basketball fans across Asia.

The EASL 2023-24 group stage involves 24 games between October and February, played on Wednesday evenings, with tip-off times at 6pm, 7pm and 8pm local time. Tip-off times for individual games will be confirmed at a later date. The eight competing teams have been drawn into two groups and they will each play their group opponents once at home and once away.

The EASL 2023-24 championship will be decided at the four-game, four-team Final Four playoff competition on March 8-10, 2024.

Announcing the schedule, EASL co-founder and CEO Matt Beyer said, “Asian basketball fans have never had such a rich list of competitive fixtures between their top clubs. This schedule represents the realization of the EASL dream of a full season of competition to decide who is the best team in East Asia.”