After EuroBasket 2013 – what do the numbers show

Basketball fever, which captured Slovenia for more than a year during the preparations for EuroBasket 2013, experiencing its peak between 4 and 22 September during the Championship itself, has calmed down and life has returned to its normal state. Slovenian fans have shown that they really feel basketball. But how successful was the Championship from the organisational point of view?

The organisers say that this gathering of the best basketball teams in Europe was a success, which was confirmed by FIBA Europe president Cyriel Coomans.

First, let`s sum up what Cyriel Coomans, the FIBA Europe president, said about the event: "The Slovenians were well-organised and have performed a great task. FIBA Europe is very satisfied with the fact that many games were sold out. The Slovenian fans were fantastic not only in the halls, but also outside of them. This was a real festival of basketball. The tournament also brought forth many surprises, which is important for the spreading of basketball. Many small countries have shown that they are not as small as they seem. This is good for sports and basketball. This tournament was very important for the future of basketball in Europe. On behalf of FIBA Europe, I would like to congratulate the organisers on their hard work and successful preparation of this excellent Championship in their truly beautiful country."

Some moments from the preparation period and the Championship itself have already gone down in history, such as the draw in the underground of the Postojna Cave, the basketball game on the water`s surface, Lipko`s hike to Triglav, the highest mountain in Slovenia, and playing under water. These special events meant that many of the main Slovenian tourist attractions were also included in the promotion of the event. The official mascot of EuroBasket 2013 – Lipko visited more than 500 events before the Championship, while becoming an incredibly popular mascot throughout Europe with all his feats. Slovenians will definitely remember him forever.

And what did EuroBasket 2013 bring to the Slovenian basketball team? Fifth place, which is the second best achievement of a Slovenian men`s team in history, while Slovenia also qualified directly, for the fifth time in row, for the next European Basketball Championship. Besides France and Spain, Slovenia is also the only team that has qualified in the last five European Championships for the quarterfinals.

We would like to indicate some relevant data, even though the official statistics of the Championship won`t be released until the end of 2013:

- Around 331,000 fans have visited 90 games.
- The average number of fans per game was almost 3,700.
- This is almost 10% more than in the last European Basketball Championship in Lithuania and Poland, if we take into consideration the visit with regard to hall capacity.
- Organisation of the event cost around 10 million Euro.
- The objective was to sell 145,000 tickets, while 182,700 tickets were sold (in other words, the objectives were exceeded by 26%).

The objective of EuroBasket 2013 was also to increase or encourage the interest of foreign tourists in Slovenia as a sports and tourist destination.

What do the numbers reveal?

- Over 55,000 foreign guests, which is almost double the expectations before the Championship (30,000).
- 25,000 Croatian, 15,000 Italian, 4,000 Lithuanian fans, etc.
- 20,000 official overnight stays by officials and participants (teams, judges, FIBA and FIBA Europe personnel), 10,000 overnight stays by media representatives.
- 1,300 accredited media from 40 countries from Europe as well as Japan, Canada, China and the USA.
- The games were broadcasted on TV in 167 countries around the world.
- 95,000 sold merchandise of EuroBasket 2013.
- 13 visited countries through the promotion of EuroBasket 2013.

More on the official website of EuroBasket 2013.

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