Nick Whitfield
February 5, 2021
Synergy Sports and Malta Basketball have partnered since late 2019 to capture, produce and distribute games using the FIBA Connected Stadium for the country’s top senior domestic competitions. While the world adjusted to a new normal during the Coronavirus pandemic, the scope of this partnership was reimagined to allow Malta to benefit as many athletes and fans as possible, across all age groups.
Not only was it important to make top level games digitally accessible, but finding ways to bring youth games to remote audiences around the country became a major priority. The friends and families of young players that are strongly invested in these games, in normal circumstances would be able to watch within the arena. As friends and family members of young athletes were suddenly unable to attend live games, a new solution was desperately needed.
The FIBA Connected Stadium installation in the town of Ta Qali became a shining example of the scalability of the solution and how the benefits can trickle down to all levels of the sport. In addition to senior level games, U23, U19 and U16 age group games across both boys and girls have been broadcast across YouTube and Facebook.
Discussing how Malta Basketball has catered to Maltese basketball fans, as well as friends and families, Synergy Sports CEO Mark Silver said “Basketball arenas are often the hub and pride of a community. As an organization we’re proud that, as we’ve seen in the Ta’Qali Arena, the FIBA Connected Stadium can help maintain this dynamic even in challenging conditions.”
Synergy Sports Partnerships Director Alistair Kemp said “Our partnership with Malta Basketball has really been a powerful demonstration of how technology can be implemented by a national federation for the betterment of the sport.”
A Malta Basketball representative discussed the partnership, saying “As is the case in most countries, all our league games have to be played in empty arenas due to the current Covid-19 pandemic. Apart from our top category games, we had to find a way how to bring all our games, including the u23, u19 and u16 (in both male and female categories), to all our stakeholders.”
“Upon contacting Synergy Sports and putting forth our request and wish to possibly have a regular livestreaming platform for all our games, we were met with complete enthusiasm and top-notch assistance and within a short span of time, an agreement was reached and all was in place after Synergy Sports also made all the necessary technical adjustments to the system so that we could go live with all our games.”
Malta Basketball Secretary General Joseph Muscat said “Faced with novel and uncertain circumstances in the past few months, this partnership with Synergy Sports was a true blessing for the Malta Basketball Association and a true clear example of how technology can be amalgamated with our beautiful game for the benefit of all the basketball and sporting community.”