《TAIPEI TIMES》 Professional basketball leagues unveil plan to merge

/ Staff writer, with CNA

Taiwan’s two professional basketball franchises, the P.League+ and the T1 League, on Wednesday said that they would merge, bringing their combined 11 teams together for a brand new season.

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The P.League+, which was formed one year ahead of the T1 League in 2020, made the announcement after P.League+ chairman Richard Chang （張嗣漢） held a meeting with its six teams to discuss the merger.

The Fubon Braves and the Taoyuan Pauian Pilots of the P.League+ were initially not on board with the idea to form an integrated franchise with the T1 League’s five teams.

However, after negotiations, the P.League+ announced that all of its members had agreed to unite with the T1 League to form a new competition, with the aim of starting a new season by the end of this year.

All 11 teams would be invited to discuss the workings of the new league, the P.League+ wrote on social media.

After the P.League+ announcement, the T1 League also posted on social media, saying that its mission since its inception in 2021 has always been the advocacy of basketball in Taiwan.

As such, its five teams have responded to the call for a new league to help advance basketball in Taiwan, it said.

The 11 teams to be in the new league are the Taoyuan Pauian Pilots, the Formosa Dreamers, the New Taipei Kings, the Hsinchu Toplus Lioneers, the Fubon Braves and the Kaohsiung 17LIVE Steelers of the P.League+, along with the T1 League’s New Taipei CTBC DEA, Taiwan Beer Leopards, Kaohsiung Aquas, Taipei Taishin Mars and Tainan TSG GhostHawks.

The proposal for a new professional league was first announced by New Taipei Kings chairman Walter Wang （王文祥） on Saturday last week, two days after his team won their first P.League+ championship.

Initially, Wang had said that the new league would comprise at least 10 professional teams, including one from Southeast Asia.

Taiwan’s national basketball association on Monday said that it was committed to facilitating the successful integration of the two leagues.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES