Proud to be Filipino!
And how can you not be? It’s been two weeks since the successful staging of the FIBA World Cup here in Manila, but the entire world is still buzzing about the event, which was won for the first time by Germany.
Look at what happened during the world’s biggest basketball spectacle.
The opening match between Gilas Pilipinas and the Dominican Republic at the Philippine Arena last August 25 set the FIBA World Cup record for live attendance in a single game as 38,115 fans witnessed history unfold.
Overall attendance exceeded well over seven hundred thousand.
Also, this year’s FIBA World Cup can lay claim to being the most followed ever, on social media, with 20 billion impressions, 4.6 billion total video views, 4.5 million new followers and 480 million engagements, showing exponential growth compared to 2019.
The FIBA World Cup app also shined, gaining one million downloads, 16.2 million users and 33 million website sessions, all significantly higher again than 2019.
On the broadcast end, FIBA also took over the world, with a global distribution in over 190 countries, with the finals game reaching 59% market share in Serbia, and 35% market share in Germany.
The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP), together with different government agencies and basketball stakeholders collaborated for the successful hosting of the more than two-week FIBA World Cup, which received positive comments from FIBA executives, basketball players and international media.
The successful hosting of the World Cup is a realization of SBP Chairman Emeritus Manny V. Pangilinan’s vision to bring the event to Asia for a tri-nation hosting. Together with Japan and Indonesia, 32 basketball teams with prominent international and NBA players arrived in the region.
Al Panlilio, SBP president, who spearheaded the country’s hosting bid along with MVP in 2017, acknowledged what MVP did to make this a reality, with his creative vision of bidding for a multi-nation hosting.
“It was a privilege to help in realizing that creative vision by collaboratively working with various groups and stakeholders and successfully host the World Cup. We are proud of the effort everyone contributed to make this huge undertaking a monumental and amazing feat,” Panlilio said.
SBP’s’ successful hosting of the event was validated by FIBA secretary general Andreas Zagklis’ comments at the end of World Cup.
“I don’t think it’s easy to find anywhere in the world that has this kind of service to the visitors. Always with a smile and kindness and with a solution-oriented approach. I can only express how grateful FIBA is to the Philippines,” Zagklis said.
Take a bow, SBP. You have made every Filipino proud!