East Asia Super League (EASL) has appointed Mark Fischer as President, as part of nine new senior appointments in a major strengthening of its management team ahead of the 2024-25 Season.

Mark Fischer steps up to President from his previous role as Chief Commercial Officer. He will oversee all marketing, commercial, and event operations, while also working closely with Chief Executive Officer Henry Kerins on corporate strategy and league and team partnerships.

Mark is one of Asia’s most experienced and respected sports marketing executives, with a track record of leading explosive regional growth at blue-chip sports properties over nearly three decades. Among his previous roles, he was Managing Director at NBA China, NBA Asia and UFC Asia.

Commenting on his new role and the other changes, Mark said, “Having successfully established EASL as the highest level of professional basketball in Asia in our inaugural season, with this new management structure we are uniquely positioned for our next phase of exponential growth. I am delighted to, along with Henry Kerins, lead such a dynamic team of talented executives throughout our organization, as we carry out aggressive expansion plans for the league, on and off the court.”

In other moves:

• Adam Zecha has been elevated to Vice President and Head of Commercial & Broadcast Operations, where he will take the lead on broadcast and marketing partnerships. Adam is one of the foremost sports media executives in Asia, having served in leadership roles for more than 25 years with the likes of ESPN Star Sports, CSI Fight Sports and Singtel.
• Mat Morgan has been appointed Vice President and Head of Marketing. Mat has more than two decades of expertise in marketing at sports and youth culture brands in Asia-Pacific. He was previously Chief Marketing Officer at Burton China, and prior to that the Senior Director of Marketing for Asia-Pacific at Vans.
• Dominic Tang has been elevated to Vice President and Head of Operations. Dominic is a veteran events and hospitality leader who played an instrumental role in producing EASL’s successful inaugural season.
• Banjo Albano has been elevated to Vice President, Business Development and Head of Philippines. Banjo is an accomplished international entertainment and sports marketing entrepreneur, and one of the longest-serving members of the EASL executive team.
• Hubert Ling has been appointed Senior Director, Marketing Partnerships. Hubert joins EASL from NBA Asia, where over a nine-year span he led and delivered a series of groundbreaking sponsorship deals.
• Junji Sakata has been appointed Commercial Director, Japan. Junji is an accomplished sports marketing, talent representation, and partnership sales executive, with more than 20 years of experience. He is based in Tokyo and will drive commercial development for EASL in Japan.
• Jay Hyun Yang has been appointed Commercial Director, Korea. Jay has more than 20 years of experience in media, content, and sponsorship sales. He is based in Seoul and will focus on developing marketing partnerships in Korea.
• Edgar Reyes has been appointed Senior Advisor, Broadcast Production & Operations. Edgar has more than 30 years of sports broadcast production experience, including with FIBA, the Philippine Basketball Association, and the Southeast Asian Games.

The latest appointments and role updates add a wealth of experience to the league’s staff, while solidifying its management structure, as the organization targets significant growth over the next few years.

After a historic, first full-length season in 2023-24, EASL is preparing for a huge second season in 2024-25.

Eight of Asia’s best professional basketball teams will once again compete, over a 28-game season, to be the champions of East Asia. The qualifying teams are from the top leagues in Chinese Taipei, Japan, Korea and the Philippines.

The EASL 2024-25 Season schedule will be announced in the coming weeks. A series of commercial partners for the 2024-25 Season, including broadcasters and brand partners, will also soon be announced.