Press Release from FIBA on June 12th, 2017
MIES, Switzerland/HELSINKI, Finland – FIBA, the International Basketball Federation, has signed an agreement with YLE, Finland’s national public service broadcasting company, for the 2017-2021 cycle of FIBA events.
Under the agreement, YLE acquires the broadcast rights for the games of ‘The Wolf Pack’ – the Finnish men’s national team – for FIBA EuroBasket 2017, including Group A action taking place on home soil in Helsinki. Thereafter, YLE will provide coverage of the Qualifiers and Final Round action for both the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 in China and FIBA EuroBasket 2021.
Panu Pokkinen, Head of YLE’s Sports Department, said: “We’ve been on the Wolf Pack trail since they got going. It is great that FIBA, with the Finnish Basketball Association – one of its longest standing members – wanted YLE to join them in mapping out the next steps of the story. Showing national teams and their athletes is at the core of our operations. We want to serve the Finnish public the greatest sporting emotions, free of charge.”
Patrick Baumann, FIBA Secretary General and International Olympic Committee (IOC) Member, said: “Finland is renowned for having a uniquely passionate national team basketball fan-base. We are delighted that this agreement with YLE enables all fans across Finland to follow the action of The Wolf Pack, not only during their home games at FIBA EuroBasket 2017, but also as they aim to qualify for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 in China.”
The agreement comes ahead of FIBA’s Competition System 2017+ launching in November. Under the new system, national teams across the globe will play regular official games in qualifying windows held throughout the year to qualify for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 and the FIBA Continental Cups 2021 (including FIBA EuroBasket Cup 2021).
YLE will start building the hype around their FIBA EuroBasket 2017 home games during the summer, by showing The Wolf Pack’s friendly games against Latvia and Russia.
The agreement was brokered by FIBA Media, the strategic partnership between FIBA and Perform, which continues to secure multi-year agreements related to FIBA’s new calendar of events.
