FIBA Expands 3×3 Broadcast Reach Through L1VE Deal
Global basketball governing body FIBA has agreed to a three-year content partnership with L1VE, a US-based immersive broadcast virtual reality technology startup, covering its 3×3 competitions.
Under the agreement, live broadcasts of the men’s elite FIBA 3×3 World Tour, the FIBA 3×3 Women’s Series, and the annual FIBA 3×3 World Cup will be available via ticketed access on L1VE’s platform for immersive reality headset users.
Access will be offered through single-day or full-tournament passes, following a ticketing model that replicates access to real-world events. The arrangement will allow viewers to purchase access for a single day or for the entire tournament.
L1VE is available on Apple Vision Pro, Meta Quest, Steam Frame, Pico and Galaxy XR headsets. The partnership will therefore cover users of those platforms when they access the FIBA 3×3 broadcasts through L1VE.
The agreement will begin with this weekend’s FIBA 3×3 World Tour stop in Debrecen, Hungary, on 29 and 30 August. The event is the first competition scheduled to be covered under the new arrangement.
The partnership spans three years and includes the men’s elite FIBA 3×3 World Tour, the FIBA 3×3 Women’s Series, and the annual FIBA 3×3 World Cup.
The agreement comes as FIBA reports rising international interest in 3×3 content. The 2026 edition of the annual 3×3 World Cup was the best-attended edition yet, according to the global governing body.
The competition was hosted in Warsaw, Poland, at a ‘3×3 village’ in the city’s Parade Square. FIBA said more than 100,000 people attended the seven-day competition in early June.
Each of the seven evening sessions held across the week from 1 to 7 June sold out. A total of 27,500 people attended games at the purpose-built open-air Arena 3×3 venue across those sessions.
The attendance followed a strong 2025 for FIBA 3×3 competitions, which recorded record media value, broadcast reach, and engagement.
FIBA estimated that 3×3 basketball generated between $220 million and $290 million in total media value for sponsors during 2025. The figure was driven by social media exposure, earned media coverage and television visibility.
The competitions also generated 1.5 billion impressions, 1.1 billion video views and 118 million engagements across all platforms during 2025.
FIBA’s 3×3 basketball social channels surpassed 10 million followers during the year, representing 20 per cent growth year-on-year.
The new partnership will add L1VE’s immersive broadcast platform to the distribution of live FIBA 3×3 coverage across the three competitions. Its first scheduled broadcast under the agreement will be the FIBA 3×3 World Tour event in Debrecen on 29 and 30 August.
