The Asian University Basketball League (AUBL), a pan-regional intercollegiate basketball league founded by Nets co-owner Joe Tsai, is set to announce the closing of its Series A funding round (exact financial details were not immediately available). The round was led by Blue Pool Capital, the family office of Tsai and follows his seed-round investment last May. New investors include Avenue Capital Group, led by Marc Lasry, former co-owner of the Bucks; Bolt Ventures, the family office of 76ers co-owner David Blitzer; and Basketball HOFer Yao Ming. Nan Fung Group and HSG (formerly Sequoia China) are also investing in the league.
“When I learned about AUBL, it felt like a chance to help build something I wish had existed earlier in my career,” Ming told Sports Business Journal in a written statement. “The combination of education, competition, and community is very powerful, and I wanted to support a platform that gives student-athletes in Asia that opportunity.”
The AUBL was sanctioned last year by the Asian University Sports Federation (AUSF), and debuted with a seven-day tournament in Hangzhou featuring Asia’s 12 top college basketball teams. The event drew over 65 million live streaming views and more than 29,000 live fans. Early sponsors for the efforts included Under Armour and J.P. Morgan Private Bank.
The 2026-27 version of the league begins with the AUBL 2026 Tournament in Hangzhou, China on August 2-9 as a standalone tournament. The twelve participating schools will be announced in May. That will be followed by the AUBL 2026-27 Season in which 16 top Asian university teams will play the inaugural home-and-away season, tipping off in late November 2026 and running through early April 2027 with games staged across Asia.