FIBA Secretary General and International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Patrick Baumann confirmed recently that the tournament, which will be held in Turkey from 28 August to 12 September, was on track to reach a massive global audience.
“Right now more than 180 countries will broadcast the games and that number will reach 200 before the event,” said Mr. Baumann. “In 2006, our accumulated TV audiences figure was 800 million viewers and we expect to go over one billion this year.”
Mr. Baumann said that FIBA had made a major investment in the world championships to ensure their success.
“A record of $100 million has been invested in this tournament,” he said. “Also, our world-renowned partners and sponsors mirror their support of this great event by accounting for an additional $30 million.”
The Secretary General of the Turkish Basketball Federation who will host the event, Mr. Ali Özsoy said international media interest in the event was also at record levels.
“As expected, media interest in the tournament is setting new records,” said Mr. Özsoy. “Currently we have 1,900 accredited media members from over 75 countries and we expect to have over 2,500.
“For the first time in Turkey’s history, we will have fan zones and we anticipate a daily turnout of 50,000 people at the zones in the four host cities (Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir and Kayseri).”
The FIBA World Championship will be broadcast in full high-definition production for the first time. All games will be live on www.FIBAtv.com with English language commentary.
The event’s website www.turkey2010.fiba.com will be available in four languages (English, Spanish, Turkish and Chinese) and is expected to have over 20 million unique visitors (twice as many as 2006).
Basketball Australia Chief Executive Officer Larry Sengstock said the global nature of the sport of basketball meant that the Boomers and Australian basketball would enjoy massive international exposure during the tournament.
“FIBA is made up of 213 national basketball federations worldwide, so for Australia to qualify amongst the top 24 teams to qualify is in itself a massive feat,” said Mr. Sengstock. “That’s the beauty of our sport and the fact that over 450 million people play basketball on competition and grassroots level around the world. Our teams get to play on a truly global stage and that is fantastic exposure for us.”
The Boomers start their second major training camp in preparation for the world titles on the Gold Coast this Sunday.
