India Basketball League unveils eight foundation cities for inaugural season
India Basketball League, operated by ACG Sports, announced eight foundation cities for India’s first professional basketball league at an event in Delhi. Six cities will compete in the inaugural 2027 season, while fans will help decide the participating teams
Hyderabad: India Basketball League (IBL), operated by ACG Sports, on Saturday unveiled the eight foundation cities for India’s first professional basketball league, with six cities set to compete in the inaugural season beginning in early 2027.
The announcement was made at the BUDx NBA House in Delhi, where IBL players took to the stage to reveal the foundation cities alongside NBA legends DeMarcus Cousins, Isiah Thomas, and Vlade Divac.
The eight cities — Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, and Pune — were selected for their strong ties to basketball culture through participation, fandom and well-established basketball communities. Six will compete in the inaugural season, while two will join in subsequent seasons as the league expands.
Fans will have the opportunity to play an active role in shaping the league from the outset, initially by influencing the decision on which six of the eight foundation cities will compete in the IBL’s inaugural season in 2027.
“The India Basketball League will be the next step in what has already been a decade-long commitment by ACG to the sport of basketball in India,” said Karan Singh, Managing Director of ACG.
“Within five months of the announcement of the IBL, we opened our High-Performance Centre in Bengaluru, which is now home to the best basketball coaching framework and the best talent pipeline anywhere in the country. The players training there are going to form the foundation of the talent that you will see on court when we tip off in 2027.”
“The success of any professional sporting league depends on its fans, which is why we want the voices of India’s basketball fans to be heard right from the outset. They will be our barometer for all decision-making, and so we intend to engage with them every step of the way,” said Jeremy Loeliger, Commissioner, IBL.