The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and esports company ESL FACEIT Group have announced details for its second season of eFIBA, FIBA’s official esports tournament in NBA 2K24.
The number of federations for the second season has more than doubled to a total of 61 federations, meaning that 28% of all basketball federations in the world are participating in the competition.
ESL FACEIT Group and FIBA first started collaborating on large-scale esports tournaments in early 2023, when the first season of the eFIBA was announced. Since then, the two parties have expanded their partnership, focusing mostly on the eFIBA competition.
For the second season, the number of federations has increased from 30 to 61, including 26 federations in Europe, 14 from Africa, six from North America, five from Southeast Asia, four from South America, four from the Middle East, and two from Oceania. The tipoffs for the new season will commence in early October through Regional Qualifiers.
The finals of the second season of eFIBA will take place during DreamHack Winter, from November 25th-26th in Elmia, Jönköping, Sweden. The best nation from each regional final and two nations from Europe will participate in the competition and compete for a share of the €50,000 (~£43,000) prize pool.
This will be the first time ever that the eFIBA finals are taking place in person.
Roger Lodewick, President of Sports Games at ESL FACEIT Group, commented: “The significant growth of participating National Federations and the incredible feedback we have received from players and the community shows that eFIBA is on the right track to become a great offering to the NBA2K community.
“Together with FIBA, we have crafted a bold and innovative sporting concept that serves the esports community and connects with basketball fans. We are thrilled to tip off the second season.”
In addition to the new participants, FIBA and the EFG have announced that co-streams of the eFIBA will be available. Moreover, creators will receive ‘unprecedented access’ to gameplay feeds, overlays, interview opportunities, and more.
