FIBA World Cup

08:44 pm PST September 26, 2023

2023 edition most followed FIBA World Cup ever

This year's FIBA World Cup has shown record social media engagement numbers, which according to the FIBA itself, is the biggest and most successful event in its history.

"Delivered for the first time by three host nations, the prestigious tournament in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia attained incredible levels of engagement and eye-popping numbers across the entire spectrum of digital, social media, broadcast and attendance," the FIBA said in a statement on Tuesday.

FIBA's statistics showed that there were 20 billion impressions and 480 billion engagement across every platform, triple the numbers they had recorded four years ago. In addition, they also had a quadrupling of their social media video engagement levels, with 4.5 billion views.

Their accounts, @FIBA and @FIBAWC, also saw 4.5 million new fans that joined from the Competition Draw to the Finals and saw a combined 35.4 million followers across both channels.

Even their website saw millions of users visiting the FIBA World Cup pages.

"The FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 website saw significant and eye-catching growth, with over 16 million users accounting for an unprecedented 33 million sessions, which was just shy of double compared to the 2019 event in China. The mobile app, available in 7 languages, reached the milestone of one million downloads," the FIBA stated.

The Gilas Pilipinas game against Angola had also received the second-highest sports audience for 2023 in the country, and it also included the record-breaking FIBA World Cup attendance record at the Philippine Arena with 38,115 people attending Gilas' first game of the tournament against the Dominican Republic.

For the final showdown between Germany and Serbia at the Mall of Asia Arena, the match received a 35 percent market share in the winning country, with 4.6 million watching the finals live from German broadcaster ZDF and 1.3 million viewership on MagentaSport.

FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis hailed the success of this year's tournament, which was held in Japan, Indonesia, and the Philippines, which was held in the Philippine Arena, the Smart Araneta Coliseum, and the Mall of Asia Arena.

The next edition will be held in Qatar in 2027.

12:54 am PST September 24, 2023

Batang Gilas secures FIBA World Cup berth

By Niel Victor C. Masoy

GILAS Pilipinas U16 took down Japan, 64-59, in the FIBA Asia Cup quarterfinals in Doha, Qatar early Saturday, September 23 (Manila time), to advance to the semifinals of the tournament and to the FIBA World Cup U17 next year in Turkey.

The Philippines arranged a semifinal clash against Australia on Sunday.

Batang Gilas’ Joaquin Gabriel Ludovice drives to the basket during the FIBA Asia Cup quarterfinals between the Philippines and Japan in Doha, Qatar early Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023. FIBA PHOTO

Kiefer Alas shone once more as he fired 29 points, nine rebounds and three assists in 32 minutes of action to lead the Philippine youth squad.

Rebounding from a rather subpar scoring effort against South Korea last timeout, Alas led Gilas' 21-point output in the third quarter where he poured 14 of his total points.

The Filipinos limited the Japanese to just 10 points in the third frame in a reversal of roles as the latter contained the former to just nine markers in the second stanza, where they scored 19 to enter halftime with a 10-point lead, 35-25.

After the third frame, however, Gilas gained a 46-45 advantage and proved to be steadier in the final canto where Bonn Daja came through.

A Ginga Cembo layup pulled Japan within one, 59-60, in the last two minutes but Daja would score two clutch baskets, a floater at the 1:42 mark and a jumper in the last 54 seconds to practically seal the win for the Philippines.

Joaquin Ludovice and Kurt Velasquez chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively, as Daja totaled six markers in the triumph.

Kenichiro Benedict paced the Japanese side with 10 points and 14 rebounds as Shogo Takata put up 12 points and two rebounds.

Ginga Sembo turned in 10 points and four rebounds in a losing effort.

12:30 am PST September 17, 2023

Gilas Pilipinas moves up in FIBA ranking

By Richard Dy

GILAS Pilipinas may have failed to come up with an impressive showing in the 2023 FIBA World Cup right at its home floor, but the good news is, the Philippines managed to climb up from 40th to 38th place in the latest ranking released by the international governing basketball body.

The Philippines placed 24th overall in the just-concluded world basketball showpiece, punctuated by a 21-point hammering of China to end a nine-game losing skid in the tournament dating back to 2019.

Jordan Clarkson (right) PHOTO BY RIO DELUVIO

Gilas went on to conclude the FIBA World Cup with a 1-4 record.

Newly minted World Cup champion Germany made a huge leap that saw the Dennis Schroder-led national squad break into the top 3 of the rankings for the first time in the country's basketball history after moving up eight spots (759.7 ranking points).

The Germans' amazing rise to third place in world ranking was highlighted by their eight-game sweep of the FIBA World Cup following its win over Serbia in the gold medal match.

The United States, despite failing to win the World Cup and losing to Canada in the bronze medal game, still has something to celebrate after regaining the No. 1 spot, dislodging erstwhile leader Spain behind its 786.6 ranking points.

The Spaniards dropped to No. 2, following a disastrous World Cup campaign that saw them drop out of medal contention after the second round en route to finishing ninth in the tournament. Spain had 778.2 ranking points.

Canada, thanks to its first-ever bronze medal in the World Cup, jumped from No. 15 to No. 6.

But an even more remarkable improvement are Latvia and South Sudan.

The Latvians concluded the tournament at fifth place to climb up from No. 30 all the way to No. 8, or a remarkable +22 improvement.

On the other hand, South Sudan jumped from No. 63 to No. 31 in a phenomenal improvement via a + 32 improvement.

Japan, which sealed an outright Olympic spot via its spirited effort in the FIBA World Cup, moved up 11 spots to No. 26 despite playing without Los Angeles Lakers forward Rui Hachimura.

Lebanon also gained significant strides, moving 16 spots higher to No. 28, while China dropped from No. 28 to No. 29.

01:17 pm PST September 15, 2023

FIBA Basketball World Cup broadcast lauded for its world class coverage

By The Manila Times

After more than two weeks of nonstop basketball action, the FIBA World Cup 2023 held in Manila came to a close last September 10.

Excitement ran at an all-time high for the local fans, as the Philippines enjoyed the honor of hosting the world's best teams as they battled it out for basketball supremacy.

Records were broken: The opening match between Gilas Pilipinas and the Dominican Republic at the Philippine Arena on August 25, 2023 set the FIBA World Cup record for live attendance as some 38,115 fans witnessed history unfold.

FIBA Basketball World Cup champion Germany CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Fans also met the first Filipino Digital Human named "Pearl" – a collaboration between Smart-PLDT, NTT Data, and MediaQuest.

And for those who worked tirelessly to make this event a resounding success, the team effort of the entire MVP Group of Companies was commended by International Basketball Federation Secretary General Andreas Zagklis as the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 has "lived up to expectations and delivered in terms of drama, fan engagement, social media stats, and overall experience."

Unprecedented Coverage

Delivering the task of staging the games and providing world-class coverage, Cignal TV applied its combined strengths in event production and sports broadcasting to bring to the world stage an unforgettable spectacle.

Fans from all over the Philippines were able to enjoy the games at the 238 watch parties held in 92 locations nationwide spearheaded by Cignal TV, in partnership with participating malls and barangays.

While those who watched the games from their homes were provided various options: free-to-air channels on TV5 and One Sports; Pay TV channels One Sports+ and PBA Rush; and Cignal and SatLite pay-per-view services.

Meanwhile, Cignal TV's OTT streaming platform Pilipinas Live showed all 92 games without commercial interruption. This innovative sports app raised the fans' viewing experience to a whole new level by providing a host of unique features including multi-camera views, behind-the-scenes, and the fan stream feature.

"As the official Philippine Media Rights Holder of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, we produced the best game coverage using state-of-the-art equipment as well as the studio shows for our various broadcast and streaming platforms," said Cignal TV's First Vice President and Head of Channel and Content Management, Sienna G. Olaso, who also served as Broadcast, Media, and Ceremonies Head for FIBA LOC.

For Jane J. Basas, President and CEO of Mediaquest Holdings and Cignal TV, who also served as Head of the Ways and Means Committee of the FIBA LOC, the successful hosting and broadcast of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 in Manila was the culmination of years of hard work made possible by the MVP Group.

"We are truly honored to be given the opportunity to deliver this memorable experience. Our heartfelt gratitude goes out to all our partners at FIBA, SBP, Smart-PLDT, our production and broadcast teams from Cignal, and all the volunteers who made this possible," said Basas.

With the successful conclusion of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, Cignal TV is now ramping up efforts of furthering its world-class production and broadcast capabilities and has set its sights on the upcoming 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, as well as the 2027 FIBA World Cup to be held in Qatar.