Basketball in Africa

By Fred Vubem

Sponsorship is a vital source of finance in sport.
It goes without saying that basketball clubs cannot survive by the little subsidies they receive from the Ministry of Sports and Physical Education, or contributions from members, or gate takings. Hence the need to get sponsors involved so as to give the financial impetus necessary to jump start the sport in Cameroon where the centre stage has been occupied by football. However, to get sponsors interested in the game would require that basketball be erected to a popular sport just as the king sport, football.Sports has been elevated to a spectacle and for this spectacle to take place, there must be some essential requirements such as a befitting infrastructure, organised clubs and federations and adequate training facilities for athletes. Cameroonian love the game of basketball and this is testified in the numerous improvised basketball courts that are found in residential areas especially in the metropolitan cities of Douala and Yaounde. However, with the absence of a befitting arena for people to practice or watch others practise it, very few people usually turn up for basketball games. This situation does not encourage companies to put their money in the game as their objective is to reach out to the greatest number of people possible.

Another way out will be to have basketball games covered by the media. This will enable sponsors to target both the spectators on the pitch and the larger public through the mass media. Only then will sponsoring opportunities like carrying the names of companies on jerseys or putting banners or billboards around the basketball court, be made available to clubs and the federation.