Basketball is not the national sport of either Italy or the UK; two countries where football is still very much king. Despite this, it still has a very large following in Italy, even though the national side currently ranks 36th in the world, having fallen 15 places since the end of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in September. Great Britain – perhaps surprisingly – is more successful, currently ranked 22nd in the world. If Great Britain is currently more successful in basketball than Italy, it would be reasonable to expect that there would be a larger following for the sport here. Why then is this not the case? And what has to change?
A study by Nadia Khomami of The Observer last August found that 217,900 people aged 14 and over play basketball at least once a week. Despite this, the working knowledge of English basketball players and teams is very limited, and the average attendance for British basketball is around the 1,000 mark.
According to an article on the Italian website Tennis world, basketball is the third most played sport in Italy in terms of number of participants, with 322,556 people playing. There is a direct correlation between the number of participants and the public following of a sport, but national success should also have an impact, which is why this question remains.
One explanation is that the level of funding that basketball receives at a national level in England is miniscule compared to many other sports. The women’s England team recently lost their entire £1.6million of lottery funding because they are not expected to have any chance of winning a medal, despite having qualified for the European finals. There is a similar situation with basketball at grassroots levels in England, making it more difficult for young children to take part in the sport and continue playing it at a higher level.
Another of the main contributors to England’s dormant state in world basketball is thatthere are currently no British clubs taking part in international competition such asthe EuroLeague, basketball’s equivalent of football’s Champions League. Italian teams have won this competition 13
Why is Basketball so Much More Popular in Italy than the UK?
by kalise powell