BOCAUE, Bulacan – The attendance record for a FIBA World Cup game has been broken.
On Friday night, a record 38,115-strong crowd watched Gilas Pilipinas’ opening game against the Dominican Republic here at the Philippine Arena.
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3??8??,1??1??5?? fans packed Philippine Arena, setting a new FIBA Basketball World Cup record as the 2023 edition started with PUSO and passion!#FIBAWC x #WinForAll pic.twitter.com/PCoE67plIP— FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 ???? (@FIBAWC) August 25, 2023
The past record was 32,616, when the United States' Dream Team II faced Russia in the 1994 FIBA World Championship in Toronto, Canada.
The Philippine Arena has a capacity of about 55,000.
The Angola-Italy game had an attendance of 21,214.
The Philippine team earlier said they will be banking on the mammoth crowd at the Philippine Arena as an extra boost as they face Dominican Republic and Karl-Anthony Towns.
The game is ongoing as of posting time.