The big news of the week at the intersection of basketball and business was the announcement that one of Europe’s largest brokers had become a FIBA partner.
The agreement covers the biggest basketball events, but... it doesn’t even mention 3x3 basketball. Very surprising decision, given that the upcoming 3x3 World Cup will be held in Warsaw, which is also the headquarters of the sponsor in question—XTB!
Why isn’t the partnership with FIBA 3x3 part of this deal? The only explanation we have is that this particular sponsor doesn’t want to reach young people. Which is somewhat understandable in the case of a financial broker—young people don’t complain about having too much cash. The money is usually in their parents’ pockets.
Perhaps this is a well-thought-out move, or perhaps it’s short-sighted. One thing is sure—3x3 basketball is the sport of the future:
So the questions are: What did FIBA 3x3 do to secure this sponsor? Was XTB misinformed, or is it simply not interested?
And who loses the most? The sponsor or 3x3 basketball? It’s clear that the fans have already lost out on this.
Would love to hear a comment from the best marketing expert in 3x3 and best 3x3 player in marketing. What’s your view on this Jack Appleby?
We might be totally wrong, but it seems that for what was likely a small fee attached to that huge contract, we could have had the XTB World Cup in Warsaw instead of just the World Cup… Isn’t it one of the biggest lost opportunities you have heard about?
To be completely fair, we believe it’s a good deal for XTB: strong fit, cost-efficient within their aggressive growth playbook, and high-upside for brand and client acquisition. The contract is likely worth $10–18 million USD total in rights fees paid by XTB to FIBA.
BTW: The World Cup pools has been announced (but we still don’t know the rosters) - it’s time to get back to streetball! Enough about business, at least for now.
Next article will focus 100% on the game, we promise!
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