The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) is happy in its attempt to expand its sport to all corners of the world. A recent brand study carried out by the company Nielsen Sports detailed that there are more than 3.3 billion fans who vibrate with basketball. Something that has increased in recent years, evidenced in the great interest attracted by the last World Cup in 2023 held in the Philippines, Indonesia and Japan. And to this, we must begin to add from these Olympics of Paris 2024 the new fever for the 3×3 FIBA, the attractive new Olympic discipline, which means that, for the first time, basketball will share 4 gold medals.
The study commissioned by FIBA to the world’s leading company in terms of research and consulting in the sports industry was carried out at the end of 2023 and took into account the growth in the period since 2019, after the first report presented after the World Cup in China of that year. The Nielsen Fan Insights report was carried out in 18 countries around the world, concluding that the Federation’s vision because basketball grows in popularity is in the right direction.
THE NUMBERS
The report concluded that basketball is the second most popular sport in the world, only behind soccer. In addition, it was recorded that three out of four people are interested in the sport of FIBA, also demonstrated in the growth of interest from 68% to 74% between 2019 and 2023. The global projection indicates that there are more than 3.3 billion fans between 16 and 69 years of age.
Despite the transversality of the sport, there is a segment where popularity even increases. According to the study, four out of five young people between 16 and 29 years old showed interest in basketball. Indonesia, the Philippines, China and the United Arab Emirates had the highest rates in this section, matching the interest in more traditional countries such as Spain, Germany and Great Britain.
“This historical research, conducted after each FIBA Basketball World Cup since 2019, offers extremely valuable information on the state of basketball worldwide,” said Andreas Zagklis, FIBA Secretary General. “These very positive results confirm that basketball continues to attract more and more fans, especially the younger generations. Our strategic objectives, defined in 2019, are clearly contributing to the growing global interest in our sport, helping to make basketball every more popular,” he added.
INTEREST IN THE WORLD CUP
The study also provided important information about the interest generated by the FIBA World Cups. Regarding the last edition, held in Asia in 2023, there was a 33% increase in interest compared to the 2019 tournament. On average, almost one in two people knows that these types of events exist for both men and women.
“For the last edition of the Men’s World Cup, 58% are aware of the event and 28% showed interest, while for the 2022 Women’s World Cup, 42% are aware and 20% showed interest,” FIBA said when made public the results.
“The report also clearly shows the impact and success of our flagship tournaments, the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022 and the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023. We now look forward to moving forward to the next editions, Germany 2026 and Qatar 2027 respectively,” Andreas Zagklis resume.