How to Watch the Upcoming FIBA Basketball World Cup While Traveling
How to Watch the Upcoming FIBA Basketball World Cup While Traveling
Don’t want to miss out on the upcoming FIBA Basketball World Cup? Streaming all the games can be tricky while traveling. Here’s how to catch the action live – no matter where or which device you’re watching it on.
It’s a year of firsts for the FIBA Basketball World Cup. China is hosting it for the first time, and there’s a new trophy that’s made almost entirely out of gold. It’s also the first time since 1967 that it’s not happening the same year as the FIFA World Cup. Finally, this is the first year that the Czech Republic and Montenegro will be taking part in the World Cup.
Exciting things are happening, and it’s important to stay up to date.
Below are some interesting facts about this years FIBA Basketball World Cup as well as how to watch it from anywhere.
Need-To-Know Facts About FIBA 2019
The FIBA Basketball World Cup will start on 31 August 2019. It will run for 16 days, ending on September 15th. During that time, a whopping 92 games will be played. Spanning the group phase, second round, the classification round, and the final phase.
Usually, only 24 teams take place in the group rounds. Basketball fans the world over are in for a delight, though, as a record number of 32 teams is taking part this year. The teams have been divided into eight groups of four teams for the group rounds. Each group has been assigned to one of the eight cities where the games will take place.
The hosting cities are Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Wuhan, Foshan, Guangzhou, Nanjing, and Dongguan.
The groups have been assigned as follows:
Group A: Ivory Coast, Poland, Venezuela, China
Group B: Argentina, Russia, Nigeria, South Korea
Group C: Iran, Spain, Puerto Rico, Tunisia
Group D: Angola, Philippines, Serbia, Italy
Group E: Japan, Turkey, Czech Republic, United States
Group F: Brazil, Montenegro, Greece, New Zealand
Group G: Jordan, France, Germany, Dominican Republic
Group H: Canada, Australia, Lithuania, Senegal
Eight teams will qualify through for the Olympics. Only one top-ranked team from Africa, Asia, and Oceania will go through, while the top two teams from the Americas and Europe will get those prized spots to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Japan, as the hosting nation is automatically awarded a spot.
How to Watch the FIBA Basketball World Cup
FIBA has signed deals with networks in various countries who may broadcast the matches live. The Fox Sports network has exclusive rights to air the matches in the US, for instance. Anyone who has cable subscriptions to those networks will be able to watch as they please. Others will have to rely on streaming services.
These services will be streaming the matches in September:
Not all of these streaming services are available in every country, however, making traveling during the world cup season frustrating.
The Solutions
One of the only options left to anyone who doesn’t want to miss out is using a VPN. Millions of people across the world use Virtual private networks, and one of their aims is to hide the IP address. An IP address is linked to a location, which is how streaming services can geo-block their customers. A VPN circumvents this issue by giving a device a new IP in the location of the user’s choice. This feature makes it the perfect tag-along for a trip to a different country.
Beyond using a VPN, there’s the option to sign up for a streaming service that works in the travel destination. Although those who want to be assured that they will be able to watch the matches might prefer the VPN. Not everyone is ready to struggle with new platforms and online payment methods in a foreign country.
The third option is to share a friend or relative’s login information in the destination country. This option is only available to someone who knows people living in that country. Plus, those people have to have an account on one of the partnered services. But it is also one of the easiest options if that’s the case.
Whichever option, make sure to prepare ahead before traveling during the FIBA Basketball World Cup. Don’t scramble for a last-minute fix and miss the adrenaline-charged events.
It’s a Slam-Dunk
This is the biggest stage for world basketball, and 2019 is set to be an exciting year for FIBA. Thankfully, it’s easier than ever to catch the exciting event in China from anywhere, even while traveling.