OPB Changes Name & Logo, Announces Format Changes
December 15, 2019; New York, NY- Four months after announcing plans to purchase the Premier League of Basketball, the Organization of Professional Basketball today announced it will change its name to the Organization of International Basketball, or the OIB. While the transaction has not yet been closed due to an extensive antitrust review process, the announcement suggested the OPB is confident that authorities will approve the deal in the near future.
Included in today’s announcement were the details of changes to the format of the league’s regular and post seasons. OPB President of Marketing Mercury Grey revealed the details of the changes, with highlights including:
At the start of the 2020 season, there will be 32 U.S.-based teams and 16 teams based in other countries
Instead of two conferences with 16 teams in each, the new league will consist of four conferences, each with 12 teams
Conferences will be aligned across as few time zones as possible, with eight U.S. teams shifting into “International Conferences”
The Regular Season will consist of 66 games
Each team will play three games against its in-conference opponents and one game against each non-conference opponent
Eight teams (two from each conference) will automatically qualify for the playoffs each season, with the top team from each conference receiving a first-round bye. The third and fourth place teams from each conference will play a best-of-three series with the winner of each series qualifying for the playoffs.
Grey stated that additional details of the format changes will be shared after the deal is completed.