Japan's new top-flight basketball league, which will begin its first season in October 2016 and will merge the existing 13 team National Basketball League and the 22-team Basketball Japan League, was established on Wednesday.

The official announcement will be made at a Friday press conference by Saburo Kawabuchi, who heads a special task force that is overseeing the merger mandated by the International Basketball Federation.

Teams wishing to join the league will be able to apply for membership until the end of April. After investigating applications, teams will be decided upon by the end of May, and by the end of July the league hopes to have divided all the teams into three divisions.

The plan is to have a first division of from 12 to 16 teams, with each being able to secure an arena that seats at least 5,000 and an annual income of at least ¥250 million (roughly $2.1 million).