Germany secured the FIBA World Cup 2023 title with an 83-77 victory over Serbia in the final, drawing a record-breaking live audience of 4.63 million viewers and a market share of 35.0 percent.

Credit: FIBA
Credit FIBA

Germany has claimed the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 title, drawing in an impressive live audience of over 4 million viewers, as reported by Dennis Schluter of Bild.

Initially, MagentaSport had the exclusive streaming rights for the entire FIBA World Cup.

However, due to a successful run of the German national team, ZDF decided to broadcast the grand final, a decision that paid off with 4.63 million viewers tuning in, resulting in a 35.0 percent market share on a Sunday afternoon.

To put this achievement into perspective, even the German national football team's disappointing loss to Japan with a score of 1:4, which garnered 5.85 million viewers on RTL on a Saturday evening, only amounted to a 27.6 percent market share.

Germany, led by Toronto Raptors guard Dennis Schroder, secured their world champion status with an 83-77 victory over Serbia in the final.

However, it's important to note that no basketball action was showcased on national TV until the final match.

Asked about the popularity of basketball potentially increasing after the historic win, Schroder wanted to pay attention to the fact that the tournament was not available to be watched for free.

"Basketball is such a great sport, I wish we'd get our respect," Schroder said after the final. "In the next European Championship and next year in Paris, I wish every game will be on TV. But we see the steps."

"When I started 10 years ago, of course, we had Dirk Nowitzki, but other than that, people didn't know who was on the team," he continued. "Now, when we go to the Philippines or Okinawa, everybody knows our team. Germans, as well, start recognizing what we're doing for the country representing. We want our respect as well."

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