FIBA Intercontinental Cup 26: Bringing the Game to Chinese Fans

Mission

For the 2026 FIBA Intercontinental Cup in Beijing, FIBA entrusted Samba Digital with its Chinese social media presence. The goal: bring the competition to one of the world’s largest basketball audiences across Douyin, WeChat and Weibo.

Approach

Faces fans already know. Chinese fans follow players and legends, not just competitions. We built the storytelling around familiar figures such as Yao Ming and Luis Scola, alongside the players of the Beijing and Shanghai clubs, giving the tournament immediate local relevance.

Video-first, game-focused. Short clips sat at the heart of the plan, with coverage built around the games themselves: the key plays, the results, the moments that matter on the court.

One role per platform. Each channel had a clear job. Douyin drove reach, WeChat Video Channel added incremental video views, Weibo served as the hub for results and information, and the WeChat Official Account handled event announcements and ticketing.

Results

• 17.5M video views
• 16.2M views on Douyin, 92.5% of the total
• 352K engagements
• 1.2M impressions
• 189 posts published
• 4 Chinese platforms activated

By pairing local star power with a platform-by-platform playbook, Samba Digital turned an international club competition into a native experience for Chinese basketball fans, proving its ability to activate one of the most distinctive digital ecosystems in the world.