Basketball Africa League carve a niche

Article posted by Coliseum, December 6^th, 2024

Image: FIBA and Basketball Africa League

The Basketball Africa League (BAL) recently announced that the league’s milestone fifth season will tip off on April 5^th, 2025 in Rabat, Morocco, and culminate with the 2025 BAL Finals on June 14^th in Pretoria, South Africa, marking the first BAL games in Morocco and the first time the BAL Finals will be held in South Africa.

‘fiba.basketball’ stated that the 2025 BAL season will feature the top 12 club teams from the 12 African countries playing 48 games in Rabat, Dakar (Senegal), Kigali (Rwanda), and Pretoria.

On June 1st, Angola’s Petro de Luanda became the first sub-Saharan African team to win the BAL Finals after previous champions from Egypt and Tunisia. The 2024 BAL season reached fans in 214 countries and territories in 17 languages, set an attendance record of more than 120,000 fans across the four host countries and generated more than 1.2 billion impressions across NBA and BAL social media channels.

The Basketball Africa League (BAL), a partnership between the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) Africa (the African branch of the NBA which focuses on its business interests in the African continent) is a professional league featuring 12 club teams from across Africa that completed its fourth season in June 2024. Headquartered in Dakar, Senegal, the BAL builds on the foundation of the club competitions FIBA Africa has organized across the continent and marks the NBA’s first collaboration to operate a league outside North America.

Mies (Switzerland)-based the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) – the world governing body for basketball – is an independent association formed by 212 National Basketball Federations throughout the world. It is recognized as the sole competent authority in basketball by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is the international, non-Governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based in Lausanne, Switzerland.

New York (US)-based the National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams. It is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and is considered the premier professional basketball league in the world.

‘fiba.basketball’ further stated that the 12 teams will once again be divided into three Conferences of four teams each. Each Conference will play a 12-game group phase during which each team will face the other three teams in its Conference twice. The Kalahari Conference group phase will take place from April 5^th-13^th in Rabat. The Sahara Conference group phase will take place from April 26^th-May 4^th at the 15,000-capacity Dakar Arena in Senegal. The Nile Conference group phase will take place from May 17^th-25^th at the 10,000-capacity BK Arena in Kigali.

Eight teams from across the three Conferences will qualify for the Playoffs in Pretoria which will tip off on June 6th and culminate with the 2025 BAL Finals on June 14^th.

Asserted Amadou Gallo Fall, BAL President, “We have seen tremendous growth over BAL’s first four seasons in the level of on-court competition, attendance and engagement from fans and partners in Africa and globally. Our milestone fifth season will build on that momentum and further showcase the level of talent and passion for basketball in Africa, including through the first BAL games in Morocco and the first BAL Finals in South Africa.”

Added Anibal Manave, President of FIBA Africa, “The Kalahari Conference marks another expansion of the BAL into a new country on our continent and we are more than satisfied that year after year, this competition grows, giving greater exposure to our sport and helping to elevate the level of basketball in Africa by making the league more and more competitive.”

This season, the national league champions from seven countries – Angola, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, and Tunisia – will automatically qualify for the BAL. The other five teams will qualify through the Road to the BAL qualifying tournaments conducted by FIBA Africa across the continent from October to December 2024.

In addition to the games, the BAL will once again collaborate with its partners to conduct youth development and social impact programing in all the four markets, including Jr. NBA, coaching and referee clinics, environmental days of service, the fourth BAL Innovation Summit, networking sessions to engage with members of the media, and a series of camps and workshops for the young women as part of BAL4HER, the league’s platform for advancing gender equality in the African sports ecosystem.

BAL4HER is a mentorship program that addresses the critical need for increased female representation in sports leadership, particularly in the rapidly growing arena of African basketball.

The Rwanda Development Board, NIKE (American footwear company), Jordan Brand (related apparel and accessories are marketed under the Jordan Brand by NIKE) and Wilson (the world’s leading manufacturer of high-performance sports equipment, apparel, footwear, and accessories) will return as the BAL Foundational Partners. The league’s roster of marketing partners also includes Castle Lite (alcohol manufacturer in Midrand, South Africa), Hennessy (French producer of cognac) and RwandAir (the flag carrier airline of Rwanda).

Additional information about the 2025 BAL season will be announced in the coming months.

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