A vehicle passes a giant FIBA Basketball World Cup themed display near one of the venues at the Mall of Asia Arena Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023, in Pasay city Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
The much-awaited Fiba World Cup kicks off on Friday in Manila, Jakarta and Okinawa with the Philippine capital serving as the main host of the games from the group stages up to the Final Phase from August 25 to September 10.
There are 16 teams–including the Philippines’ own Gilas Pilipinas and crowd-favorite Team USA–playing in Manila at several venues namely Philippine Arena, Mall of Asia Arena, and Smart Araneta Coliseium.
But fans can’t go to the games, there are multiple ways of watching the game live on various platforms.
Where can you watch on free TV?
The Fiba World Cup games will be aired on free TV channels like TV5 and One Sports with Cignal TV as Fiba World Cup’s official broadcaster in the Philippines.
All of Gilas Pilipinas’ games will be shown live on both One Sports and One Sports+ simultaneously.
However, Team USA’s games in Manila have no live TV coverage and are only available through streaming.
One Sports is airing selected games from Okinawa and Jakarta while Cignal TV is offering a pay-per-view, no commercial access for all Fiba World Cup games for a subscription fee.
Schedule of games: September 3 (second round)
- Group I (at Manila): Italy vs. Puerto Rico (4pm), Dominican Republic vs. Serbia (8pm). Winners to the quarterfinals, losers eliminated.
- Group J (at Manila): Greece vs. Montenegro (4:40pm), U.S. vs. Lithuania (8:40pm). Greece and Montenegro are playing their finales, the U.S. and Lithuania both have clinched quarterfinal spots.
- Group K (at Okinawa): Australia vs. Georgia (3:30pm), Germany vs. Slovenia (7:10pm). Australia and Georgia will not be moving on, Germany and Slovenia will play quarterfinal games in Manila on Wednesday.
- Group L (at Jakarta): Brazil vs. Latvia (5:45pm), Spain vs. Canada (9:30pm). The winners move on. The losers do not.
September 3 live broadcast schedule
–Free TV schedule in this article will be updated daily
Live on One Sports (Free TV): Australia vs Georgia 3:30pm; Germany vs Slovenia, 7pm.
One Sports+ (cable): Italy vs Puerto Rico 4pm, Spain vs Canada 9:30pm.
No live TV coverage for Team USA’s game against Lithuania at 8:40pm.
Where can you watch online?
Online streaming of the games will also be locally available on the Smart Livestream App and Pilipinas Live App.
The Smart Livestream App is offering free live stream access to all the Fiba World Cup Games–including the offerings in Jakarta and Indonesia–exclusive to all Smart subscribers via Smart mobile data, TNT or PLDT wifi connections.
Pilipinas Live App will likewise stream all the games on its platform for a monthly subscription fee available to all network users. The service includes multi-cam viewing setup and pre and post-game coverages.
Fiba also has the Courtside 1891 digital platform, which will air the 92 World Cup games online on selected territories in the world, but not including the Philippines. The NBA app and NBA.com will also carry the Courtside 1891 games.
Is there a Fiba World Cup TV coverage in the US?
In the U.S.: The next U.S. game (Wednesday) will be on ESPN2. It begins at 4:40 a.m. Eastern. No television plan for U.S. games after Wednesday has been announced; the Americans will play Montenegro on Friday and Lithuania on Sunday in Round 2. –Associated Press
Are there viewing parties?
Viewing parties are a fun way to experience the live crowd atmosphere for the Fiba World Cup.
Just like in the Filipinas’ Fifa Women’s World Cup games, malls are offering watch parties for Gilas Pilipinas’ games for free at selected mall branches across the country.
SM Malls will hold the viewing event for Gilas Pilipinas’ first round group games at the activity centers in the following malls:
Participating SM Malls of the Fiba World Cup viewing parties.
Selected Robinsons Malls are also showing the Philippine teams games live for free:
San Miguel Corporation, which signed on as a Fiba World Cup partner in April, is also hosting watch parties for all of Gilas Pilipinas’ games in several covered courts in Metro Manila.