粤BA: China’s Grassroots Basketball League Takes Off

The 2026 Guangdong Provincial City Basketball League, known as “粤BA,” officially launched on March 21st in Guangzhou’s Tianhe Sports Center, according to reports from multiple Chinese news outlets.

The league features 21 teams representing cities across Guangdong province and will run through August, encompassing a total of 125 games. Teams are divided into eastern and western divisions, competing in a single round-robin format during the regular season, as detailed in reports from Guangzhou Daily and other sources.

The western division includes teams from Guangzhou, Zhuhai, Foshan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen, Yangjiang, Zhanjiang, Maoming, Zhaoqing, and Yunfu. The eastern division comprises teams from Qingyuan, Shaoguan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Shenzhen, Heyuan, Meizhou, Chaozhou, Jieyang, Shantou, and Shanwei.

All-Star women’s basketball player Yu Dong, a champion at the National Games, commented on the league’s opening, stating it has “ignited city-wide enthusiasm for sports,” according to a report by Yangcheng Evening News. The opening of 粤BA is seen as a significant event for the province, positioned as a key annual mass sports IP for Guangdong.

Ticket reservations for the league are being managed through the official WeChat public account of the Guangdong Basketball Association. The second round of regular season tickets went on sale today, March 24th, at 10:00 AM, according to reports.

The league is reportedly aiming to provide affordable access to games, with some tickets available for as little as 8.8 yuan, in an effort to broaden its appeal and engage a wider audience across the 21 participating cities.