The German champions are breaking new ground, in the best sense of the word: FC Bayern Basketball will be making its first overseas trip as part of preparations for the new season. The "BayWa Basketball Tour 2019" will take the EuroLeague participant from Munich first to the USA in Miami and then to Montevideo in Uruguay from September 10th to the 23rd. This will be the first time in the club's history that the FCBB has competed in the home country of the sport and also their first time competing in South America. BayWa, the main sponsor of the BBL champion, is supporting the overseas adventure as naming partner of the two-week trip.
At the invitation of the NBA, the Bavarian basketball players will take part in a top-class tournament in Uruguay's capital, the second edition of the "NBA G League International Challenge" (September18th-22nd). The list of teams includes an elite selection of the NBA G League - which will be coached by former NBA and US national coach, Jeff Van Gundy - the current champion of the intercontinental Liga de las Américas, Argentina's capital San Lorenzo de Amalgro, Brazil's champion Flamengo Basketball, Mexico City's captains, Mexico's runners-up and Uruguay's national team.
"Milestone of internationalisation and branding".
The tournament games will be shown in Uruguay by stream from Vera TV and broadcasting on other channels is also planned. The invitational tournament will take place in the "Antel Arena" (10,000 seats) in Montevideo. Another friendly game is planned for the Bavarian basketball team's stay in Miami, Florida.
"The FCBB's first international tour takes us back to the roots of basketball. That suits us very well," says Klaus Josef Lutz, CEO of BayWa AG. "BayWa is globally successful and at the same time very proud of its Bavarian home. As a long-standing partner of the FCBB, we are happy to support the internationalisation of the association".
FCBB Managing Director Marko Pesic says: "I am sure that the BayWa Basketball Tour will be a milestone in the internationalisation and branding of our club. We thank our main sponsor BayWa for supporting and accompanying us on this expedition. This tour will also be an exciting sporting challenge because we will be able to represent Europe in the high-class NBA G League International Challenge. This is a great honour and we would like to thank the NBA once again for the invitation".
The FC Bayern basketball team will end their summer break in three weeks and will meet again on the 20th of August. They will start at the end of September in the BBL and the first EuroLeague game will take place on Thursday, October 3rd (20:30), in the Audi Dome against Olimpia Milan.