Basketball 

Representatives of VBA and XSM at the partnership signing ceremony on March 26 in HCM City. Photo courtesy of VBA

HCM CITY - The Vietnam Pro Basketball League (VBA) has become the first Vietnamese member of the 3x3.EXE Premier, the world's largest 3x3 basketball tournament.

A partnership was signed between VBA and Xross Sports Marketing (XSM), a subsidiary of Xebio Group, on March 26 in HCM City. 

The VBA was founded in 2016 and runs an annual league with seven clubs.

ZSM was established in 2011, specialising in project marketing, research - business consulting, event promotion and asset management. In the sports marketing industry, XSM has proven itself to be an influential factor in promoting the 3x3 sport.

One of the company's highlights is the 3x3.EXE Premier, the first world pro basketball approved by FIBA. In its first season in 2014, seven teams competing with each other. 

After a decade of development, 3x3.EXE Premier has become the largest scale event of its kind in the world.

In 2022, as many as 100 clubs with 600 talented players took part in 1,143 matches in four member countries, namely Japan, Thailand, New Zealand and Australia.

Becoming part of 3x3.EXE Premier, the VBA 3x3 competition will be one stage of the 2024 season.

Accordingly, the group rounds will be held in Việt Nam (May and June), Japan (May and September), New Zealand (June and August), Thailand (August) and Australia (August).

It is expected that VBA 3x3 will be at level six in the FIBA ​​3x3 system with two formats for six men teams and six women teams in HCM City.

The winning team of each format will join other stages' champions in playoffs in Japan in September.

“In a new year of economic changes, VBA continues to improve its strategy to flexibly adapt to achieve the goal of financial independence and support for Vietnamese basketball," said VBA CEO Trần Chu Sa.

"2024 is an important year when VBA will carry out our adaptation and sustainable development strategies for the next phase. In addition to focusing on organising quality domestic tournaments, we believe that international integration is also a key step in these strategies," Sa said.

Sa added that the signing ceremony between VBA and XSM would be a foundation for the stronger development of 3x3 basketball in Việt Nam. VBA was honoured to be the first Vietnamese member of the 3x3.EXE Premier.

He hoped that the cooperation would not only open new unprecedented opportunities for Vietnamese talent and resources for the national team, but also connect and spread the power of sports internationally.

On his side, XSM Chairman Takaaki Nakamura welcomed VBA as a new member. The Japanese company would make more efforts to develop and popularise 3x3 basketball globally.

He hoped that the competition between players of different countries would help Việt Nam's 3x3 basketball spread widely in the community.

3x3 basketball has gradually lured the attention of world athletes and supporters.

Việt Nam won gold of this sport at the 32nd SEA Games in 2023 in Cambodia.

This year, 3x3 basketball will appear in Paris as one of the official Olympic sport competitions. VNS