THE International Basketball Federation, aka FIBA, in collaboration with its National member Federations have announced their first-ever esports event happening in as soon as a few days. Seventeen teams, including both Australia and New Zealand, will compete in the international virtual competition which runs from the 19th-21st of June via NBA 2K’s Pro-AM mode. This means players will be able to fully customize avatars, uniforms and arenas.
“FIBA is extremely proud and excited to start its esports journey with the FIBA Esports Open 2020, a pilot project of exhibition games between national teams in collaboration with NBA 2K,” said Frank Leenders, FIBA Media and Marketing Services Director General. “The esports initiative was identified by the FIBA Central Board as important and consistent with the strategic objective to Enlarge the FIBA Family. In these challenging times, we feel encouraged by the enthusiasm of some of our National Federations who are already active in this space and have been our charter partners during the last few months. “
“NBA 2K is honoured to partner with FIBA in creating the FIBA Esports Open 2020, ” stated Jason Argent, Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations at 2K. “Through these matches, we’re excited to be able to celebrate the global appeal of basketball. “
The entire FIBA Esports Open 2020 series will be produced from the brand-new FIBA Esports Studio located in Riga, Latvia, with a daily four-hour show featuring up to six games. Each game will be live-streamed on FIBA’s Facebook, Twitch and YouTube channels with live commentary in English.
