There are less than 1,000 days from the start of the 2019 FIBA World Cup, and organizers held a ceremony in Beijing to mark the countdown.

The tournament will tip-off on August 31st that year, and conclude with the title game on September 15th, which will wrap up China's historic first time staging this prestigious championship.

A press conference was held in Beijing to discuss the details of the event. 32 teams will compete in eight cities across the country. Those venues are the capital, Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan, and Dongguan. The top seven teams at the event will gain direct qualification to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Yao Ming, who helped China win the hosting rights, will serve as the official ambassador for the tournament.

Now with a little more than three years to go until the opening tip, organizers still have plenty of work to accomplish. Among those duties are unveiling a mascot, creating a marketing campaign, holding a draw for the competition, and putting together a Youth Mini World Cup. The committee hopes the excitement generated by the championship will grow the sport here in China.