The Basketball Africa League (BAL) (www.BAL.NBA.com) today announced that a record 15 marketing and merchandising partners, including five new partners, will support the 2026 BAL season that tips off today at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa.
New partners Amazon Web Services; FLEXX; PUMA; Qatar Foundation; and South African Tourism join returning Foundational Partners Rwanda Development Board and Wilson as well as Official Partners AB InBev, Afreximbank, Air Senegal, Hyundai, RwandAir, the French Embassy of Senegal, ServiceNow and Wave.
The BAL’s sixth season will reach fans in more than 200 countries and territories, including all 54 countries in Africa. Returning free-to-air and pay TV broadcast partners in Africa include Canal+ (pan-Africa), Rwanda Broadcasting Agency, RTS and 2STV (Senegal), SNRT (Morocco), TV5 Monde (pan-Africa) and ZAP TV (Angola and Mozambique). BAL games and programming will also air on NBA TV globally, the NBA FAST Channel on leading FAST platforms including Samsung, Roku and Amazon Fire TV in the U.S., select FAST platforms in Canada and Mexico, Tencent Video and Tencent Sports in China, TSN and RDS Direct in Canada, and through livestreaming on the NBA App and NBA.com for NBA ID members.
“This incredible roster of new and returning partners reflects the sustained growth and momentum around the BAL and the African sports industry more broadly,” said BAL President Amadou Gallo Fall. “We look forward to working with these amazing companies and organizations to engage BAL fans across the continent and around the world in new and creative ways throughout our sixth season.”
Below are highlights of each marketing and merchandising partners’ efforts:
- AB InBev returns as the Official Beer Partner of the BAL through its Castle Lite and Budweiser brands.
- Afreximbank will again serve as an Official Partner of the BAL4HER and BAL Future Pros programs in each host city, which provide professional development training for African youth pursuing careers in sport.
- Air Senegal returns as Official Partner of the Sahara Conference group phase from Friday, April 24 – Sunday, May 3 at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex in Rabat, Morocco, supporting guest travel from and returning to Senegal.
- Amazon Web Services will serve as Official Technology Provider (cloud computing, cloud AI and cloud machine learning) of the BAL.
- FLEXX will serve as an Official Off-Court Lifestyle and Team Fanwear Supplier of the BAL.
- Hyundai returns as the Official Car Partner of the Kalahari Conference group phase from March 27 – Sunday, April 5 in Pretoria, featuring Hyundai Santa Fe and Hyundai Alcazar displays at the SunBet Arena and Fan Zone.
- PUMA joins as the league’s Official Outfitter, supplying all official BAL team, fan and referee apparel, including game uniforms, warm-up gear, practice wear, accessories, and branded tops for participants in the league’s social impact and player programming.
- Qatar Foundation will serve as an Official Community Partner of the BAL by supporting a variety of social impact and court development initiatives across all three host cities.
- RwandAir returns as Official Airline Partner of the BAL.
- Rwanda Development Board returns as a Foundational Partner of the BAL.
- The French Embassy of Senegal will serve an Official Partner of the BAL School Tournament and International Basketball Day in Senegal, with more details to be announced at a later date.
- ServiceNow will serve as Official Digital Transformation Partner of the BAL and support several networking and stakeholder engagement initiatives throughout the season.
- South African Tourism will serve as Official Tourism Collaborator of the Kalahari Conference group phase.
- Wave returns as an Official Marketing Partner of the BAL, Presenting Partner of the BAL4HER Elevate Camp, the BAL Rapatak Tournament, the BAL Tournoi des Quartiers Tournament, and the BAL Court Regeneration Event, and Official Partner of the BAL Business Brunch.
- Wilson returns as a Foundational Partner and Official Game Ball Partner of the BAL.
