Japanese basketball's B-League will tip off its 2024-25 first-division season with the defending champion Hiroshima Dragonflies facing the Gunma Crane Thunders on Oct. 3, the league said Monday.
Japan's co-hosting of the Basketball World Cup last summer boosted the sport's popularity in the country, with total attendance at B1 and B2 games in 2023-24 surging 40 percent from the previous season to a record 4.52 million.
The season opener will be played at Gunma's Open House Arena Ota.
The Nagasaki Velca and Chiba Jets will begin playing at their respective new homes -- Happiness Arena in Nagasaki and LaLa arena Tokyo-Bay in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture.
The Velca will play their first game on Oct. 4 against the Sunrockers Shibuya and the Jets a day later against the Utsunomiya Brex.
Former NBA player Yuta Watanabe has decided to play in Japan after six NBA seasons.
Last week, Shinji Shimada, chairman of the B-League, said it aims to be the most popular professional sport league in Japan by 2050.
