MIES (Switzerland) - FIBA has struck a long-term and multi-territory partnership with United Media, a market-leading media company in Southeast Europe, to broadcast and distribute its major global and continental event rights to the former Yugoslav countries, Greece, Cyprus and Bulgaria.

United Media, which will manage the rights in a long-term partnership, has extensive operations across southern parts of Europe. The FIBA broadcast rights are a strategically important acquisition for United Media in territories where international basketball holds mass appeal, as it continues to grow the audience of its portfolio of media brands.

From FIBA's perspective, the long-term partnership represents a unique opportunity to secure comprehensive coverage for FIBA's premier international basketball properties on some of the biggest names in sports broadcasting in Europe. This includes Sportklub throughout the former Yugoslav countries, Nova in Greece and Cyprus and sports channels Nova and Diema in Bulgaria.

The new arrangement will ensure that key games, including those of the respective national teams, will be widely available and free to view in each territory. This model has already proven successful in FIBA's media rights collaboration with Sportklub from 2017 to 2021.

The territories included in the agreement have produced some of the brightest new stars in the game, like Greece's national team star Giannis Antetokounmpo, Slovenian EuroBasket 2017 champion Luka Doncic and Olympic silver medallist Nikola Jokic of Serbia.

The deal enables both parties to take a long-term and strategic approach to the development and distribution of FIBA properties in the territories, ensuring that events such as the FIBA Basketball World Cup maintain its position as a crown jewel event on the sporting calendar.

"This is great news for basketball fans," FIBA Media and Marketing Services Director General Frank Leenders said. "The passion for the sport in this part of Europe is as intense as anywhere in the world and this partnership with United Media across multiple countries allows for synergies and levels of commitment which will provide fans with unprecedented coverage and access to FIBA competitions in the years to come."

"We are delighted to be working with FIBA on this long-term partnership. Basketball has long been a major focus for United Media and its sports channels and we are very excited to ensure fans have access to the full portfolio of FIBA games on Sport Klub and Nova channels across Southeast Europe. We have been a leading provider of sports for years and the acquisition of the FIBA media rights will help enable us to continue to grow in the years ahead," said Ralf Manthey, Director of Programming and Corporate Affairs Media Ventures Luxembourg.

### 

About FIBA
FIBA (fiba.basketball) - the world governing body for basketball - is an independent association formed by 213 National Basketball Federations throughout the world. It is recognized as the sole competent authority in basketball by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

For further information about FIBA, visit fiba.basketball or follow FIBA on facebook.com/fiba, twitter.com/fiba, instagram.com/fiba and youtube.com/fiba.

About United Group 
United Media is a leading media company in southeast Europe. It operates in eight countries, employing 2,800 people, has a portfolio that includes 45 channels – among them five national broadcasters. It also encompasses 15 web portals, newspapers, radio stations, digital distribution. United Media is a media arm of United Group, the leading provider of telecommunications services and media in Southeast Europe.