Biggest-ever FIBA World Cup reaches record-breaking three billion people

OCTOBER 2, 2019

The FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 achieved record-breaking results with a TV audience reach of over 3 billion and generated a further 1.5 billion video views on social media ensuring the flagship event secured more global coverage than ever before.

An analysis of the World Cup, which with 32 participating teams was FIBA’s biggest yet, reflected in the record-breaking global engagement and the ever-increasing popularity of basketball globally.

FIBA teamed up with over 70 broadcast partners to deliver coverage in 190 territories, resulting in a total cumulative average TV audience increase of over 80% compared to the last World Cup in 2014. The final alone had a total global reach of 160 million. In Spain, with a market share of 46% for the final, over 10 million tuned in while 6.2 million watched the full game, making it the country’s most successful basketball game ever.

Chinese basketball fans were at the heart of the special atmosphere throughout the tournament, with the interest in the host nation resulting in the World Cup generating the two highest live ratings of the year on CCTV: China vs Poland with a total reach of 68 million, and China vs Korea with a total reach of 60 million. The most-watched games on Tencent were China vs Venezuela which generated 52 million live views and China vs Poland with 50 million people following live on Tencent.

FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis said: "The FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 has been the World Cup of a new era and of new records. On the court, players set new standards and off the court we saw our largest ever audience reach on TV and social media. These record statistics are more than just numbers, they tell the human story of how globally-loved basketball is. They demonstrate that more fans than ever are watching and engaging in the FIBA Basketball World Cup, which has evolved into a successful major sporting event."

Engagement on social media was equally as impressive with the #FIBAWC and #WorldGotGame hashtags reaching 22 billion impressions and 535 million engagements. FIBA enjoyed considerable growth on its social media channels, with the Weibo FIBA and FIBA World Cup accounts combined experiencing over 200% growth to over 10 million fans. FIBA and World Cup social media channels now have more than 24 million fans.

The official FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 mobile app, presented by Tissot, was downloaded over two million times. Fans enjoyed a personalized experience, with the ability to follow favorite players and teams. The app also enabled fans to receive live statistics and watch video highlights of the most memorable moments. The app and the official website, available in 12 languages, had 146 million views throughout the World Cup combined.

On-site attendance at the World Cup marked another positive for FIBA, with total attendance for the event reaching close to 800,000 (794,951). The highest attendance of the tournament was 18,000 (USA vs Japan and USA vs Turkey in Shanghai). A total of 2,422 accredited media from 81 countries attended the World Cup, playing a significant role in the global coverage of the tournament.

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About FIBA

FIBA (fiba.basketball) - the world governing body for basketball, is an independent association formed by 213 National Basketball Federations throughout the world. It is recognized as the sole competent authority in basketball by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

For further information about FIBA, visit fiba.basketball or follow FIBA on facebook.com/fiba, twitter.com/fiba, instagram.com/fiba and youtube.com/fiba.

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