BASKETBALL/T1 LEAGUE to play two games at Taipei Dome in April

Taipei, March 14 (CNA) Two T1 LEAGUE regular season games are scheduled to take place at the Taipei Dome in mid April, it was announced Wednesday.

In a joint press statement released that day, the New Taipei CTBC DEA and the Taipei Mars said their back-to-back matches on April 13-14 will be held at the newly inaugurated multi-functional venue, with the DEA being the home team.

The announcement confirmed that CTBC will be the first team to play home games at the dome, as had been rumored after the team stated on Feb. 21 that the dates of its three home games had been changed due to venue issues.

The two teams will provide further details about ticketing at a press conference scheduled to be held at CTBC Financial Park in Taipei on March 19.

On Monday, T1 LEAGUE President Chien Wei-chuan (錢薇娟) said that the games show Taipei Dome is more than a baseball venue. "It can be used to hold other events and our basketball games."

Attending the Taiwan Sports Culture Expo in Taipei with P.LEAGUE+ (PLG) CEO Webber Cheng (鄭偉柏), Chien referred to the games as a preparatory step for the merger of the two leagues.

"Everyone is talking about a merger, [but] do we have a better venue afterward if the merger comes true? So I think it's like we are having a taste first [for us] of what it feels like to play at the dome," she said, emphasizing the two leagues have remained in "very smooth and frequent contact."

It is uncertain how many seats will be available for the games between the DEA and the Mars, which so far this season have averaged a home court turnout of 4,122 and 4,034, respectively.

The Taipei Dome has a capacity of around 40,000 and started operating in December 2023. Its turnout record of 37,890 was set on March 2 for an exhibition game featuring the Yomiuri Giants of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and the CTBC Brothers of Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL), which drew a sellout crowd.