Telemundo is the official broadcaster of the Liga de las Americas in Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN (DIRECTV Liga de las Americas) - The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) in the Americas announced that Telemundo will be the official channel of the Liga de las Americas 2017, the continent's most important international club competition.

The continental league will be played every weekend from Friday, January 20 until March 18, and will attended by 16 teams from 8 countries in the Americas.

It will be broadcast live through Punto2 and will feature a large number of Puerto Rican stellar players in various participating clubs including Carlos Arroyo and Ángel Vassallo (Leones de Ponce), Renaldo Balkman (Capitanes de Arecibo), Carlos Rivera (Fuerza Regia de Monterrey - Mexico), Alex Galindo (Correcaminos de Colón - Panama), Ricky Sánchez (Caballos de Coclé - Panama), Guillermo Díaz (San Lorenzo - Argentina) and Jorge Bryan Díaz (Soles de Mexicali - Mexico) .

The groups of the 2017 edition have been configured as follows:

Group A - January 20-22 - Venue: Mexicali, MEX
Soles of Mexicali (Mexico)
Union de Formosa (Argentina)
Correcaminos de Colón (Panama)
Aguada (Uruguay)

Group B - January 27-29 - Venue: Monterrey, MEX
Fueza Regia (Mexico)
Guara de Lara (Venezuela)
Leones de Quilpué (Chile)
Caballos de Coclé (Panama)

Group C - February 3-5 - Venue: Buenos Aires, ARG
San Lorenzo (Argentina)
Capitanes de Arecibo (Puerto Rico)
Bucaneros (Venezuela)
Hebraica y Macabi (Uruguay)

Group D - February 10-12 - Venue: Ponce, PUR
Leones de Ponce (Puerto Rico)
Academia de la Montaña (Colombia)
Weber Bahía (Argentina)
Cocodrilos de Caracas (Venezuela)

The itinerary and the schedules of the first phase have been configured as follows:

"Puerto Rico is one of the countries with the largest tradition in the history of our sport and with important performances in all the basketball scenarios in which it has participated. Announcing Telemundo as an official channel of the most important international club competition of the continent is transcendental given the possibility of introducing the Liga de las Americas to Puerto Rican fans. We are more than confident that both representations of the Puerto Rican National League, Capitanes de Arecibo and Leones de Ponce, will be protagonists of this 2017 edition and through Telemundo they will give many joys to the fans of our sport." Said Mr. Usie Richards, FIBA Americas President.

"At Telemundo and Punto Dos we have a genuine interest in supporting Puerto Rican sports and bringing the viewers what they want to see. For us it is an honor to be an official FIBA Americas channel and we urge our viewers to not miss such a prestigious championship where our athletes will undoubtedly continue to shine," said José Cancela, President and General Manager of Telemundo Puerto Rico.

The Liga de las Americas will be played in three phases: Group Stage, Semifinal Phase and Final Four. In the Group Phase the teams have been divided into four (4) groups of four (4) teams each that will play in round-robin format for three (3) days. The best two teams from each group will qualify for the Semifinal Phase.

In the Semifinal Phase, teams will be divided into two (2) groups of four (4) teams each and will play in round-robin format for three (3) days. The best two (2) teams from each Semifinal group will advance to the Final Four, where the Champion of the Americas will be crowned.

The defending champion of the competition is Guaros de Lara (Venezuela).

The Liga de las Americas will be broadcast through DIRECTV throughout the rest of the continent.

For the best coverage of the DIRECTV Liga de las Americas 2017, visit ligamericas.com and our @ligamericas social networks.

FIBA