Japanese basketball officials on Wednesday announced the formation of a new professional basketball league.
The six-team BJ-League will begin its inaugural season in November 2005 and will feature teams in Tokyo, Osaka, Saitama, Oita, Sendai and Niigata.
The 40-game season will run from November to May and four of the six teams will reach the playoffs. Organizers said Wednesday they hope to expand the league to 12 teams playing 80 games by the 2010 season.
Each team will be allowed to carry 15 players on its roster: 13 Japanese players and two foreign players.
Popularity in the sport in Japan increased when point guard Yua Tabuse became one of 12 players suiting up for the Phoenix Suns in their season opener earlier this month against the Atlanta Hawks.
The 1.75-meter Tabuse is the first Japanese-born player to make an NBA roster.
The 2006 World Basketball Championships will be played in Japan.
Toshimitsu Kawachi, who is the commissioner of the BJ-League, said it will take about $2.5 million to operate a team for one season.
"There are many players in Japan and we want to take advantage of the sport's popularity," said Kawachi. "We hope to provide a product that is dynamic and entertaining."
The league will operate under a salary cap system but hasn't decided on the specifics yet.
Two teams from the Japan Basketball League -- a regional corporate league -- have joined the BJ-League: Niigata Albirex and Saitama Broncos.
The newly-formed league said it plans to hold an All-Star game with the Korean professional league and also has a proposal for a pro-league championship with South Korea, China and Japan.