Basketball fans win as Fiji's FBC TV and the Solomon Islands' TTV sign on as broadcast partners for Melanesia Cup

In a major boost for hoops fans in the Melanesian region, the upcoming FIBA Melanesia Basketball Cup will be available on free to air via major TV networks in the region.

Following on from the announcement in May that EMTV in Papua New Guinea (PNG) had signed a partnership agreement with FIBA to exclusively produce and broadcast live and free the event, EMTV have announced that TTV (Solomon Islands) and FBC TV (Fiji) have also taken the rights to broadcast matches into their respective countries.

“We are very excited to announce that TTV and FBC TV, TV broadcasters in the Solomon Islands and Fiji respectively, will be broadcasting the 2017 FIBA Melanesia Basketball Cup to be held later this month in Papua New Guinea” said Matthew Park, CEO of EMTV, the Host Broadcaster and Media Partner.

“It is fantastic that an international event such as this is being held in Port Moresby, and to see the growth of Basketball as a whole in the Pacific”.

The FIBA Melanesia Basketball Cup is the inaugural sub-region event, with teams from Fiji, New Caledonia, PNG and Solomon Islands participating in the hope to be crowned the champions of the Melanesia region.  The event will also serve as the qualifier for the 2019 Pacific Games, to be held in Samoa, with the top three teams from both the men’s and women’s events to go on to 2019.

“Following the announcement of Samoa as the Pacific Games 2019 host on Monday, we are thrilled to have more good news today with FBC TV and TTV taking local broadcasting rights for Fiji and the Solomon Islands.” FIBA Oceania Executive Director David Crocker commented. 

“We know all teams have been preparing for this event for months, so the opportunity for local fans to cheer on their national teams from home is very important to grow the game throughout the region” 

Basketball Fiji Chief Operating Officer, Mr Laisiasa Puamau was equally as buoyant by the news “Our teams are excited for the opportunity to once again represent our country, and to know that our fans back home will be able to cheer us on is a further boost for the team”

EMTV is confident more good news is in the pipeline with negotiations on-going with further broadcast partners in the region.

Games begin on September 27^th with Solomon Islands vs New Caledonia Women kick-starting the four-day competition. FIBA will show all games via its YouTube channel on delay.

FIBA