Member Article

British Basketball League provides £10,000 worth of free advertising to small black-owned businesses in honour of black history month

In celebration of Black History Month and as part of the British Basketball League’s commitment to supporting local communities, the League has donated £10,000 worth of free advertising to local businesses throughout October. As one of the most diverse sports leagues in the country, this initiative underscores the League’s commitment to promoting local businesses during this important month of recognition and awareness.

The British Basketball League and its clubs are at the heart of their community, inspiring people of all backgrounds and tackling social issues through the power of basketball. To mark Black History Month, the League has offered a Black-owned business located near each of its 10 clubs in-game free advertising until November 03 2023.

Clubs throughout the League called on their fans to nominate a local Black-owned small business they felt deserving of the free in-arena advertising before each club randomly selected a final winner from all the nominations made. During select Thursday and Friday games, including those broadcast on Sky Sports, both the home team and the away team will have their selected local business advertised on the digital courtside LED boards, with an approximate advertising value of £1,250 per game. Furthermore, viewership of games is at an all-time high, following a record-breaking season, which saw 20,000,000 live and on-demand views of games.

In addition to providing free advertising, players from across the League will be heading to local schools to speak about the importance of Black History Month, emphasising what it means to them and why people from all backgrounds should celebrate and recognise the observance.

Each year the clubs dedicate hundreds of hours to running their own programmes alongside League initiatives for thousands of children across the country, with the focus of using athlete role models to help raise awareness and drive societal change for key issues.

Basketball is the third most team-played sport in the UK and is the second most popular amongst those aged 14-16 years old. As one of the most diverse sports leagues in the country, 70% of League players come from BAME backgrounds and are at the forefront of being active role models for youngsters in their communities.

Speaking on the initiative, British Basketball League CEO Aaron Radin said;

“It’s vitally important that we remain at the heart of our communities in which our clubs proudly represent every week both on the court, but more importantly in schools, community groups and other activities too. To mark Black History Month and its importance, we are honoured to be able to provide small businesses that serve our clubs’ communities with free advertising to enhance their exposure to potential new customers both locally, and across the UK.

“The League is extremely proud to have players, coaches, staff and fans from all backgrounds; basketball has a powerful impact on bringing people together and promoting inclusivity, which is at the centre of everything we do.”

Continuing its celebration and awareness of Black History Month, the League is running a month-long series of website interviews with players, coaches and staff from across the League.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lucie Hayes .