Last Sunday, the Sport & Fitness team were on hand to support the PR and Media activity on the ground in Glasgow, as the British Basketball (BBL) Trophy Finals headed to the Emirates Arena.
The BBL Trophy is one of three major finals in the league season and this year presented the chance for Caledonia Gladiators to win their first major trophy in 20 years, as they faced last year’s champions the Cheshire Phoenix – it was a final not to be missed! Meanwhile, in the curtain-raising Women’s Trophy Finals the London London Lions were looking to secure a second trophy of the season, as they faced off with the Leicester Riders.
In the build-up to the event, PHA worked on securing journalist attendance, inviting influencers and generating coverage across a wide variety of titles to generate maximum coverage ahead of the finals. We placed key newspaper and broadcast interviews with top-tier titles such as The Scottish Times, Scottish PA, BBC Sport, Sky Sports News and STV, as well as a whole host of regional coverage in both Scotland and Cheshire. This helped lead to a sell-out event in Glasgow, as 6000 fans packed into the arena generating an electric atmosphere.
On finals day, Dan Apostolos and I headed to Glasgow, to be on hand to welcome all of the media attending the event, as well as support and facilitate crucial pre-match interviews with the likes of BBC Scotland.
After each final, we were on hand to manage the mixed zone area, ensuring all the journalists spoke to the key players from the finals, before managing the post-match press conferences alongside the team at the BBL.
We were also on hand to write up the press release from the finals which included the key moments, as well as quotes from the BBL’s CEO and all of the finalists which would later be sent out to media across the UK for news coverage for the following day.
With everyone raring to go, the action got underway with the WBBL finals which saw London Lions continue their domestic domination with a 81-70 victory over the Leicester Riders in a hotly contested final.
Then it was onto the men’s final, which was an unbelievable showcase for the energy, excitement and passion in British Basketball, as Caledonia dramatically won the trophy with a last-second buzzer-beater which clinched the trophy 73-70 in their favour. The jubilation felt in Glasgow was immense, as the Scottish fans raised the roof off of the arena!
Following the finals we clicked straight into gear, to ensure that the video highlight of the buzzer beater would be seen right around the country, with the clip landing on key target outlets such as SportsBible, BBC Sport, Sky Sports, The Guardian and The Independent to name a few. The video has had a combined viewership of over 500,000, a great way to highlight what an incredible event the BBL put on.
In total, our dedicated efforts generated in excess of 50 pieces of coverage across national newspaper, broadcast, regional and lifestyle titles, ensuring the BBL’s major events made a huge splash to a big audience.
It was then time to head back to London, where we’re already generating plans to ensure the league’s landmark calendar event, the play-off finals at London’s 02 Arena are bigger than ever before. We can’t wait to be a part of another major final, as British Basketball’s popularity continues to rise!
