East Asia Super League strengthens senior management team

Mark Fischer

With the field now complete for the upcoming 2024-25 season for the East Asia Super League, the organization makes some internal adjustments to strengthen itself under the leadership of its Chief Executive Officer Henry Kerins.

The biggest one sees current Chief Commercial Officer Mark Fischer being elevated as President. He will work with Kerins on corporate strategy and partnerships for the league and its teams, while overseeing all marketing, commercial, and event operations.

Fischer says about his new role, "Having successfully established EASL as the highest level of professional basketball in Asia in our inaugural season, with this new management structure we are uniquely positioned for our next phase of exponential growth. I am delighted to, along with Henry Kerins, lead such a dynamic team of talented executives throughout our organization, as we carry out aggressive expansion plans for the league, on and off the court."

Aside from Fischer's appointment, these moves were also made:

• Adam Zecha as Vice President and Head of Commercial & Broadcast Operations, where he will take the lead on broadcast and marketing partnerships. Adam is one of the foremost sports media executives in Asia, having served in leadership roles for more than 25 years with the likes of ESPN Star Sports, CSI Fight Sports and Singtel.

• Mat Morgan as Vice President and Head of Marketing. Mat has more than two decades of expertise in marketing at sports and youth culture brands in Asia-Pacific. He was previously Chief Marketing Officer at Burton China, and prior to that the Senior Director of Marketing for Asia-Pacific at Vans.

• Dominic Tang as Vice President and Head of Operations. Dominic is a veteran events and hospitality leader who played an instrumental role in producing EASL’s successful inaugural season.

• Banjo Albano as Vice President, Business Development and Head of Philippines. Banjo is an accomplished international entertainment and sports marketing entrepreneur, and one of the longest-serving members of the EASL executive team.

• Hubert Ling as Senior Director, Marketing Partnerships. Hubert joins EASL from NBA Asia, where over a nine-year span he led and delivered a series of groundbreaking sponsorship deals.

• Junji Sakata as Commercial Director, Japan. Junji is an accomplished sports marketing, talent representation, and partnership sales executive, with more than 20 years of experience. He is based in Tokyo and will drive commercial development for EASL in Japan.

• Jay Hyun Yang as Commercial Director, Korea. Jay has more than 20 years of experience in media, content, and sponsorship sales. He is based in Seoul and will focus on developing marketing partnerships in Korea. 

• Edgar Reyes as Senior Advisor, Broadcast Production & Operations. Edgar has more than 30 years of sports broadcast production experience, including as Head of Production for international television coverage for three Southeast Asian Games, and head of Philippine coverage for six Olympic Games and seven Asian Games.

These moves allow the league to solidify its management structure while also adding a wealth of experience, as it targets significant growth in its immediate future.