| MIES, SWITZERLAND — The ninth edition of the FIBA 3×3 World Tour – the flagship competition of the FIBA 3×3 professional season – will feature an all-time best 13 Masters and a final in Riyadh in November 2020.The World Tour season continues to stretch in 2020. The season debut in Doha on April 2-3 will be the earliest World Tour event ever played. The final in late November will be – by far – the latest World Tour action in 3×3 history.The jump from 12 to 14 World Tour events also has a positive impact on prize money, which will reach a total of 2.8m USD on the entire professional circuit (up from 2.1m USD in 2019).FIBA 3×3 Managing Director Alex Sanchez said: “2020 is a big year for 3×3 and we’re excited to see our number one competition – the FIBA 3×3 World Tour – continue to expand so quickly. We’re proud to attract new amazing cities like Riyadh for the Final and – at the same time – to return after many years to exceptional cities where World Tour history was made like Abu Dhabi and Manila.”Indeed, the World Tour goes back to Manila, five years after an unbelievable jam-packed event in a mall proving the flexibility of 3×3 and the concept of “bringing the sport to the people”. The competition also returns to Abu Dhabi, which hosted 2 outstanding World Tour Finals in 2015 and 2016.Like last year, the World Tour will be played in iconic urban locations in Doha, Chengdu, Mexico City, Utsunomiya, Prague, Lausanne, Debrecen, Montreal, Los Angeles and Jeddah as well.Launched in 2012, the yearly World Tour sees teams representing cities from around the world qualify for 13 Masters and a Final through a worldwide network of qualifying tournaments, such as the Challengers, and via the FIBA 3×3 Team Ranking.Five Masters will be held before July 25 when 3×3 will make its Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.”For the fans, the FIBA 3×3 World Tour will be the best preview of our urban discipline at the Games”, Sanchez said. “It will also be the ultimate preparation for the best 3×3 players in the world before the Olympics. In fact, we will arrive in Japan 2 weeks early, with the 5th Masters of the season in Utsunomiya, followed by a Pre-Olympic Acclimatization Camp for our best athletes to get used to the Japanese climate and deliver the best show possible to the fans.”The top 12 teams in the World Tour standings after the last Masters earn a ticket to the FIBA 3×3 World Tour Final.FIBA 3×3 World Tour 2020 calendarApril 2-3: Doha (Qatar) May 2-3: Manila (Philippines) May 30-31: Chengdu (China) June 20-21: Mexico City (Mexico) July 11-12: Utsunomiya (Japan) August 1-2: Prague (Czech Republic) August 21-22: Lausanne (Switzerland) August 29-30: Debrecen (Hungary) September 5-6: Montreal (Canada) September 19-20: Los Angeles (USA) October 17-18: China (city to be announced) October 23-24: Jeddah (KSA) October 30-31: Abu Dhabi (UAE) November: Riyadh (KSA) Novi Sad (SRB) won their 4th title in 8 editions last year at the FIBA 3×3 World Tour Utsunomiya Final on November 2-3, 2019.A Dunk Contest and a Shoot-out Contest will take place at each FIBA 3×3 World Tour event. A first list of FIBA 3×3 World Tour 2020 Challengers will be published in February on worldtour.fiba3x3.com.###Exciting, urban and innovative, 3×3 is inspired by several forms of streetball played worldwide and is considered the world’s number one urban team sport. Steered by FIBA, games see two teams of three players face off on a basketball half-court.It was played successfully for the first time in international competition at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore and since then has benefited from the launch of a yearly city-based FIBA 3×3 World Tour and national-team FIBA 3×3 World & Continental Cups.On 9 June 2017, 3×3 was added to the Olympic Program, starting from the Tokyo 2020 Games.Wilson is the Global Sponsor and Tissot the Official Timekeeper of FIBA 3×3.FIBA 3×3 events are played on Enlio floors with Wilson balls, Schelde backstops, and the Magic Sky canopy system. Media Release from FIBA |
