The family office of Joe Tsai has taken a fancy to the sports traffic among Generation Z.

Despite the sweltering heat in Hangzhou in August, it still couldn't dampen the enthusiasm of basketball fans for the first Asian University Basketball League (hereinafter referred to as "AUBL"). At 5 p.m. on August 18th, the third game of the first day of AUBL kicked off at the Binjiang Gymnasium in Hangzhou. The two teams in this round were Tsinghua University and the University of Hong Kong. After checking the ticketing platform Damai.com, Economic Observer found that in the combo tickets for 5:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on August 18th, the 199-yuan grandstand tickets and the 399-yuan court-side tickets were all sold out.

The game was full of ups and downs. Tsinghua University demonstrated its strong strength and took a significant lead with a score of 54 - 26 in the first half. In the third quarter, they scored points from multiple sources, launching an 18 - 6 offensive wave and ending the third quarter with a score of 79 - 40. Although the University of Hong Kong fought hard in the last quarter, trying to break through Tsinghua University's tight defense, due to the large gap in strength between the two sides and Tsinghua University's obvious height advantage, the University of Hong Kong ultimately couldn't reverse the situation, and the game ended with a score of 90 - 47.

AUBL is the first regional university basketball league in Asia, targeting the huge commercial potential brought by the one - billion basketball fans in Asia.

01 The First - ever Event Gathers 12 University Teams

The AUBL games will be held from August 18th to 24th. Twelve university basketball teams from Asia will compete in this event. This year's tournament adopts a tournament - style format. The 12 teams are divided into 4 groups, with 3 teams in each group playing a single - round robin. The top 2 teams in each group will advance to the cross - knockout stage until the champion is decided.

The 12 university teams are: Peking University, Zhejiang University, Konkuk University, Tsinghua University, the University of Hong Kong, Paekoh University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Taiyuan University of Technology, Yonsei University, National Chengchi University, Japan University of Physical Education, and Erdenet University.

The arrival of AUBL has special significance. In the past, China's CUBAL, and the university basketball leagues in Japan and South Korea have all developed within their respective national boundaries. AUBL, for the first time, provides a stable platform for these top Asian university teams to compete against each other.

For players, this is a new opportunity to break out of the "local arena". AUBL CEO Li Jintian pointed out: "(This event) allows players to come into contact with opponents of different styles at a younger age, instead of waiting until they enter the professional league to start adapting. The earlier the exchange, the greater the value." In his view, this is where the charm of basketball lies - "Seeing more and competing more can enable players to adapt to any school and style. Exchange is the essence of basketball."

Behind AUBL, there is both the support of a professional team and the attention of capital. AUBL is officially certified and hosted by the Asian University Sports Federation and exclusively operated by Asian Campus Basketball Co., Ltd. An important investor in AUBL is Blue Pool Capital - the family office of Alibaba Group Chairman Joe Tsai. In May 2025, Blue Pool Capital led the seed - round financing of AUBL.

The core team of this event all has rich experience in the sports event field: CEO Li Jintian is the founder and CEO of Realeague. He was once a management trainee at the NBA headquarters, a special assistant to Yao Ming, and the person in charge of strategic development and team operations at the CBA League. Co - founder and COO Li Chen has over 15 years of experience in international sports events. He was once responsible for the operation of international events of the Chinese national basketball team and led FIFA's business in China.

Compared with the mature cross - regional university basketball leagues in Europe and the United States, AUBL is still in its infancy, and its development potential has become the focus of attention from multiple parties.

Take the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) Division I Men's Basketball Championship, known as "March Madness" in the United States, as an example. It was established in 1939 and is held from March to April every year. It is one of the most - watched events under the National Collegiate Athletic Association in the United States. It has a high degree of commercialization and is regarded as one of the most commercially valuable short - term "explosive" events in the United States.

Data shows that the advertising sales of "March Madness" in 2023 exceeded the 1 - billion - dollar mark in 2022, setting a new record. The high advertising revenue comes from its large audience base and high level of attention. In 2022, the average number of viewers per game of "March Madness" exceeded 10 million, and the number of viewers for the finals reached 18.1 million.

02 First, Build Features and Reputation

In contrast, as a newly - born league, AUBL has to face practical issues related to sustainable development, such as influence and commercialization.

Regarding commercialization, Li Jintian admitted: "It's still too early to talk about commercialization. This is something that requires long - term investment. People first recognized its social significance and the value of exchanges for college players, which is why they are willing to get involved. The whole team has a sense of conviction and believes that this is a positive thing."

At present, AUBL hopes to build its own features and reputation. Li Jintian revealed: "Including the visual color design, we want to break out of the traditional fixed patterns of basketball or sports. We don't just want to hold a game; we hope to make it a popular cultural phenomenon and a popular cultural symbol."

Currently, AUBL has attracted sponsorship from brands such as Quark, Master Kong Ice Black Tea, Under Armour, Leading Sports, Guolian Medical, Jinling Sports, and ZEEKR. Li Jintian revealed that this reflects the market's recognition of the value of the 'college student carrier'. He said: "The college student group is very special. It not only includes current students but also covers children who aspire to go to college and adults who have graduated from college, with a wide - reaching influence. This is one of the reasons why brands are willing to participate." The game on August 18th also confirmed this - Economic Observer noticed that among the on - site audience, there was a significant proportion of parent - child groups. In front of the university photo wall at the entrance, parents often pulled their children to take photos.

Li Jintian said that the current top priority is to build up the reputation and influence because any sports event first needs to have popularity and influence. "This year, the Scottish Premier League and Zhejiang's ZheBA (Zhejiang Urban Basketball League) are good examples. They have successfully'spread beyond their circles', which is a good thing. As an international college sports event, we also hope to expand our influence and achieve the same goal."

The AUBL finals will be held at the Binjiang Gymnasium at 7:30 p.m. on August 24th. Currently, the 299 - yuan grandstand tickets are sold out. It is reported that starting from 2026, AUBL will be fully upgraded to a home - and - away system spanning 6 months, and the Final Four will be held at a neutral venue.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Economic Observer", author: Ye Xinran. Republished with permission from 36Kr.