The pro basketball experience is destined for diners in Manila.

The first-ever NBA Café in Asia will open in Manila at the SM Aura Mall in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, currently under completion.

Scheduled to open in September, the NBA Café will feature a dining and entertainment experience that captures the excitement of the league through memorabilia displays, NBA highlights and programming, an NBA retail area, and will host viewing parties and appearances by NBA talent.

At the NBA Café, fans will enjoy quintessentially American bar and grill favorites and a selection of Asian-Filipino classics, giving it a local twist. It is the first sports bar and restaurant in Manila catering specifically to basketball fanatics and enthusiasts, in a nation where 40 million people play or have played the game.

This is the second league-owned restaurant set to open outside the US; an NBA Café also is planned for Madrid in 2013. NBA City, the league’s first themed restaurant, opened in 1999 at the Universal Studios Resort in Orlando.

“Basketball fans in the country now have a place dedicated and designed specifically for them,” said Nian Rigor, assistant VP, Hoopla Inc, partner of NBA in the cafe business.

“The NBA Café will be a unique destination that will bring NBA basketball closer to our fans in the Philippines,” said Carlo Singson, NBA country manager for the Philippines.

“Given their vast knowledge in the food and entertainment industry, Hoopla is an ideal partner to bring the NBA Café to life and to provide fans another authentic NBA experience.”