ESPN is showing the men’s FIBA Basketball World Cup starting next month.
Their schedule (when you put in the date in the URL to go out that far) says they’ll be showing 4 games a day (out of 8) being shown across both ESPN and ESPN2 during the initial group stage (except for the Saturday, where they’ll only be showing the 2 games on ESPN).
Hopefully ESPN put the other matches on their app/Kayo like Kayo did in 2019 (but ideally Foxtel/Fetch customers won’t have to subscribe to Kayo as well).
Friday Aug 25
6:00pm Australia vs Finland (ESPN)
7:00pm Lebanon vs Latvia (ESPN2)
10:00pm Japan vs Germany (ESPN)
11:15pm France vs Canada (ESPN2)
Saturday Aug 26
6:30pm Greece vs Jordan (ESPN)
10:25pm New Zealand vs USA (ESPN)
Sunday Aug 27
6:30pm Germany vs Australia (ESPN)
7:30pm Canada vs Lebanon (ESPN2)
10:00pm Finland vs Japan (ESPN)
11:15pm Latvia vs France (ESPN2)
Monday Aug 28
5:45pm South Sudan vs China (ESPN2)
6:30pm Jordan vs New Zealand (ESPN)
9:15pm Slovenia vs Georgia (ESPN2)
10:25pm USA vs Greece (ESPN)
Tuesday Aug 29
5:15pm Finland vs Germany (ESPN)
7:30pm France vs Lebanon (ESPN2)
9:10pm Australia vs Japan (ESPN)
11:15pm Latvia vs Canada (ESPN2)
Wednesday Aug 30
5:45pm Serbia vs South Sudan (ESPN2)
6:25pm Jordan vs USA (ESPN)
9:15pm Cape Verde vs Slovenia (ESPN2)
10:25pm New Zealand vs Greece (ESPN)
All times AEST.
ESPN Schedule here. (You’ll have to manually change the date in the URL to go further forward).
The second round group games and knockout stage games aren’t on the schedule yet.
The extra games will be likely on the ESPN app, which of course, would be the usual pain for Kayo users as they don’t have access to that (although one hopes that the Boomers are a big enough thing for them to do a deal for the extra games - ESPN US will have them in their inventory as they are placing all the games on ESPN+ over there, bar the Team USA games getting a linear start on ESPN2). Interaction with existing UFC commitments which may overflow their slot, may knock out parts of a game or two on the linear channels too I suspect.
Also worth noting that this is only for ESPN in Australia. TVNZ has the rights for them in New Zealand, in a holdover from Spark Sport’s original deal.
NBA Finals commentator Mark Jackson is now let go:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CvYchQ_ryoC
Current radio Finals commentator Doris Burke and former 76ers coach Doc Rivers will replace the Jackson-Van Gundy pair, according the NY Post.
https://twitter.com/wwos/status/1687297307639939073?s=46&t=p849RpnWCeGGuzI4QaykiA
According to this, 9Now & 9Gem will show warm up matches of the FIBA World Cup. I wonder if ESPN will also show them too
Good find. Seems to be nothing on ESPN’s guide, so wouldn’t expect it there.
Bit odd that the warm up games end up on FTA but the actual event is behind the paywall. I guess FIBA don’t really care about FTA coverage in Australia, particularly when it’s not on the anti-siphoning list. Whereas, Basketball Australia (who sell the rights for the warm up games) do. At least the Olympics get FTA coverage though.
This event is probably the warm up they are talking about
Still surprised that 9 has it since I thought all boomers games is on ESPN
The Basketball World Cup should be free
We can see the Matildas on a FTA network but you have to subscribe to ESPN to see the Boomers who won a bronze almost 3 years ago at the Olympics
The FIBA World Cup is hardly a pinnacle event in the world of basketball, though. The Olympics are a much more hotly contested event. One look at the US team for example shows their level of commitment to the tournament.
Outside of the Olympics, the interest in international basketball just is not there. A lot of basketball fans generally only care about the NBA and to a lesser extent the NBL.
And? International Basketball has never really been popular here (regardless of the Boomers or Opals performance).
Could mean that 9 has entered into an agreement with BA for internationals? (FIBA is sold separately)
I think that’d be it, the NBL bought the warm up games in 2019 to package together with their rights and they ended up on SBS properties. Meanwhile, FIBA still had a deal with Fox Sports.
Wouldn’t be surprised if it was organised at the same time as the WNBL/9Now deal, hopefully the production is a lot better than that though.
Haven’t seen it officially announced but news.com.au advertised that Boomers, Team USA and finals games at the Basketball World Cup will be on Kayo Freebies in an article on the warm up game tonight.
‘Outrageous’: Josh Giddey impresses as Boomers gear up for FIBA World Cup
ESPN unveil talent lineup for its exclusive coverage of the FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup 2023
ESPN has unveiled a stellar cast of talent to bring the FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup 2023 to Australian viewers - where every game will be live and exclusive on the Home for Hoops.
The FIBA Men’s World Cup 2023 will be staged jointly by The Philippines, Japan and Indonesia, and the Australian Boomers are among the favorites to claim the title. A host of NBA and NBL talent will make up what is arguably Australia’s strongest ever squad.
ESPN will deliver wall-to-wall coverage of the showpiece event with over 100 hours of LIVE game action plus dedicated wrap show ‘World Cup Live’ and every Boomers games LIVE in primetime.
The broadcast team will feature Neroli Meadows, Andrew Gaze, Trevor Gleeson, John Casey, Bec Allen, Kane Pitman and Olgun Uluc.
The FIBA Men’s World Cup 2023 begins on Friday August 25, when the Boomers meet Finland in their tournament opener LIVE on ESPN at 6pm AEST.
Neroli Meadows will anchor ESPN’s daily coverage of the tournament having previously hosted the Super Bowl, NBA Finals and the 2022 FIBA Women’s World Cup for the network.
ESPN
Meadows is an avid basketball fan and has regularly featured across coverage of the National Basketball League.
The iconic voice of Australian basketball John Casey will provide live commentary for every Boomer’s game and selected other games.
Casey has called some of the most famous moments in Australian basketball, spanning numerous FIBA World Cup and Olympic campaigns.
Joining him in commentary will be Australian basketball legend Andrew Gaze and one of Australia’s greatest coaches and analysts Trevor Gleeson.
Gaze is an inductee of the Sport Australia, Australian Basketball and FIBA Hall of Fame. A former Boomers star and captain, there is no more experienced or better credentialed name in the sport.
Gaze holds the record for most appearances and most points scored for the Australian Boomers in international basketball.
Trevor Gleeson will also form part of ESPN’s team, joining Gaze and Casey on commentary as well as providing expert analysis throughout the tournament.
Gleeson won five NBL championships with the Perth Wildcats, making him one of the most successful coaches in Australian basketball history. He has previously worked with the Boomers squad as an assistant coach across FIBA World Cup and Olympic campaigns. Gleeson most recently served as an assistant coach with the NBA’s Toronto Raptors.
Bec Allen - a star Guard with the Australian Opals and Connecticut Sun in the WNBA - will provide her big tournament insights and game analysis. Last year Allen won a Bronze Medal with the Australian Opals at the FIBA Women’s World Cup.
ESPN reporters Kane Pitman and Olgun Uluc will cover every angle of the FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup.
Pitman has been a feature of ESPN’s basketball coverage, reporting courtside from the recent NBA Playoffs, NBA Finals and FIBA Women’s World Cup. He is host of ESPN basketball properties ‘Kane and Copes’ and ‘The Jump’ as well as being a regular contributor to ESPN SportsCenter.
Uluc is the unrivalled news breaker in Australian basketball and will report onsite from Japan and The Philippines, bringing all the latest developments out of the Boomers camp. Uluc is the one to follow for tournament news insights into the Boomers and the 31 other nations competing for FIBA World Cup glory.
In total, ESPN will broadcast over 100 hours of LIVE international basketball with every game of the tournament live across ESPN, ESPN2 and the ESPN App.
With the tournament being hosted in our region of the world, Aussie viewers will enjoy primetime international basketball every day of the tournament.
ESPN will again provide FIBA Minis and full game replays available On Demand- ensuring basketball fans experience the biggest FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup Australia has ever seen.
*ESPN will release the full live game schedule for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 in the coming days.
The FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 begins live and exclusive on ESPN, Friday August 25.
ESPN and ESPN2 are available on Foxtel, Kayo Sports, Fetch TV and SKY NZ.
Tonight’s Gaze was on the world feed for Australia v Final & Germany v Japan.
Gaze will be on the world feed (Okinawa venue) until the qtr final stage when he will the join John Casey on the ESPN coverage.
Don’t have any photos of their set, but going by how Neroli has posted photos on Instagram Stories of herself and the team in New York for the US Open for a day trip, it would appear that ESPN have flown them from Australia to a studio in either Bristol or New York, which wouldn’t have been cheap!