The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) will host an NBA 2K20 competition featuring teams from 17 of its national member federations. Described as a pilot project, the FIBA Esports Open will take place June 19 – 21, and will be produced from a new FIBA Esports studio located in Riga, Latvia, and streamed on Facebook, Twitch, and YouTube.
Each team will host seven players, with two in reserve. The matches will be played remotely online on NBA 2K20 using the Pro-AM mode, which allows for full customization of player avatars, uniforms, and arena designs.
This is the first video game competition hosted by FIBA. The national teams participating include Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Cyprus, Indonesia, Italy, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, New Zealand, the Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, and Ukraine. Due to regional connection speeds, each team will only be playing against teams in their respective region (West and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, South America, and Oceania).
Notably, the United States and Canada are absent from the list of participating member federations, even though the NBA 2K series is licensed from the National Basketball Association. The Esports Observer reached out to FIBA, and will update this article if we receive a reply.
