In the light of the continued successes of its National Teams on the international scene, the Nigeria Basketball Federation has assured prospective sponsors of media mileage and global business exposure.
The federation, through its Vice President, Babatunde Ogunade said this on Friday during a meeting with Afro-American basketball superstar, Andre Ighoudala who is on an official trip to Nigeria.
According to Ogunade, the Nigeria Basketball Federation is leaving no stone unturned in boosting its financial capacity as relying on government as its sole financier is not sustainable in the long term.
Ogunade who in the company of fellow board members, Felix Awogu and Oni Afolabi said it was high time sponsors identified basketball as one of the key federations capable of positively exposing their brands to the global market.
“Since we took over in 2017, we have continued to enjoy unimaginable successes on the global stage. D’Tigress have won two Afrobasket titles, gotten to the quarter-final of the World Cup while the men won a silver medal at the 2017 Afrobasket, first country in the world to qualify for the World Cup as well as finishing as the best African team at the just concluded World Cup to pick the 2020 Olympics ticket.”
“The 3×3 teams have conquered Africa, been to the World Cup and are a strong force to reckon with. Today, I can boldly say basketball is one of the fastest-growing sports in Nigeria.”
Sequel to the newfound status of basketball on the global stage, the NBBF believes private investors have a lot to gain in terms of media exposure if they partner with the federation.
“All eyes are on our national teams while the global media buzz around the teams has continued to increase. Investors, partners and sponsors have a lot to gain.”
“We have so many grassroots programs, Men’s Divisions one and two, the Zenith Women League and the Men’s Premier League that are in need of attention.”, Ogunade said.
In his response, Ighoudala who has won three NBA titles with the Golden State Warriors, as well as the 2010 FIBA World Championship and the 2012 Summer Olympics titles with USA, praised the performance of the D’Tigers at the World Cup.
“Congratulations on the qualification for the Olympics. I monitored the performance of the team in China and I was impressed by this amazing team. I also heard about the women’s team which also won the 2019 title. These achievements are commendable.”
Currently, on the books of Memphis Grizzlies, the Silicon Valley investor and Jumia Nigeria, Ighoudala assured the federation that he will look at possible ways to partner the federation in growing basketball in Nigeria.