FIBA has extended its global commercial partnership with Chinese dairy conglomerate Yili through 2027, reinforcing the sport’s growing commercial momentum in Asia and confirming the brand’s continued presence across FIBA’s most high-profile international competitions.
The renewed agreement ensures that Yili will retain prominent on-court branding across FIBA’s marquee events, including the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup, the 2027 FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup, and the 2025 FIBA Continental Cups—which cover both men’s and women’s competitions. Among these, the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup 2025, currently taking place in Shenzhen, China, marks a significant milestone in the activation of this partnership on home soil.
The Yili–FIBA relationship originally launched in 2023 during the FIBA Men’s World Cup, where Yili featured extensively through on-court branding and other high-visibility assets. The deal continues to be managed by FIBA Marketing, the commercial joint venture between FIBA and global sports agency Infront.
Yili’s Strategic Sports Positioning
Yili’s sports portfolio is increasingly global. Beyond basketball, the dairy brand also maintains partnerships with the Argentinian and German Football Associations, as well as reigning Premier League champions Manchester City. This signals a broad sports marketing strategy aimed at reputation building across premium sports ecosystems.
For FIBA, the continuation of the Yili partnership affirms a wider shift in the global basketball body’s commercial posture—leaning into Asia’s market scale, growing fan base, and corporate appetite for global sports alignment.
FIBA’s 3×3 Format Continues Digital Surge
In parallel, FIBA’s 3×3 World Cup 2025 held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, shattered digital engagement records for the format. With 226 million video views and 242 million engagements across FIBA digital platforms, the event demonstrated the explosive social media appeal of the shorter, fast-paced basketball format.
Additional highlights:
- 200,000 new followers added across FIBA’s social media channels.
- Coverage in 200+ global territories via a record 26 broadcast partners.
- Expansion of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) relationship to ensure deeper distribution across the continent.
These figures mark a steep rise from 2023 and indicate the 3×3 format’s increasing relevance among digital-first audiences.
IMAGE: FIBA 3X3
