MIES, Switzerland/AUCKLAND, New Zealand - FIBA, the International Basketball Federation, on Tuesday announced it has signed a five-year agreement with Māori Television for the period 2017-2021.

New Zealand's indigenous broadcaster will have exclusive live rights to broadcast FIBA national team competitions featuring the Tall Blacks, Tall Ferns and Juniors, with commentary options provided in te reo Māori and English.

The deal includes the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Qualifiers, the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2018, the FIBA Women's Asia Cup 2019, the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019, the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers and the FIBA Asia Cup 2021. The Semi-Finals and Final from all tournaments will be available to view free-to-air, irrespective of the national teams competing.

The announcement comes as the Tall Blacks tip off the Road to China 2019 by hosting Korea on Thursday at Wellington's TSB Arena. 2018 will also see the Tall Blacks compete against Hong Kong and China, both home and away to complete Round 1 of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Qualifiers. This week's game will be livestreamed through maoritelevision.com and also on Māori Television (Sky Channel 19 and Freeview 5) from 7pm. For the full schedule of game coverage go to maoritelevision.com/tv/shows/fiba-world-cup-qualifiers.

Mike Rehu, Māori Television's Head of Content, said: "Māori Television is excited about acquiring the FIBA rights until 2021. It’s set to be an exciting couple of years for the Tall Blacks leading up to the FIBA World Cup in 2019 and the right to be able to cover New Zealanders competing at all international levels is a commitment we are extremely proud to make."

Frank Leenders, Director General of FIBA Media and Marketing Services (FMMS), said: "We are delighted to enter this agreement with Māori Television and offer its viewers access to the best that New Zealand and global basketball have to offer across all categories - men, women and youth."

The agreement was brokered by FIBA Media, the strategic partnership between FIBA and Perform, which continues to secure multi-year agreements related to FIBA's new calendar of events.

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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 recognised 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.