The bj-league received 10 offers from groups interested in being part of the league's next wave of expansion, beginning on Nov. 1, 2007, and ending on Monday.
Six business groups officially applied to join the league, according to a press release. Those groups are from Chiba, Kanagawa, Nagano, Kyoto and Miyazaki prefectures, as well as one undisclosed team.
The bj-league, which began with six teams in the fall of 2005, will be comprised of 12 teams when the 2008-09 season tips off in mid-October, and the Shiga Lakestars and Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix, who defected from the JBL, will make their bj-league debuts.