Basketball Ireland shortlisted for Governing Body of the Year for 2024 Irish Sport Industry Awards

Basketball Ireland has been shortlisted for Governing Body of the Year for the 2024 Irish Sport Industry Awards. The Federation of Irish Sport made the announcement on Friday, it is the second year in a row that Basketball Ireland has been shortlisted in this category.

The awards will take place at Dublin’s College Green Hotel on Tuesday 28^th May, with keynote speaker Minister for Finance Michael McGrath TD. Basketball Ireland will be up against the IRFU, Irish Squash and Canoeing Ireland.

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Basketball Ireland CEO, John Feehan, said: “It has been a significant year for Basketball Ireland, we announced plans for redeveloped National Basketball Arena, our registered membership has gone up 12.5%, including a jump up of 21.5% in registered players, along with a 16% increase in schools players, not to mention the 21.7% increase in referees and table officials. We also launched our Women in Basketball Strategic Plan 2023-2027, formed a new Diversity and Inclusion Committee and increased visibility of the sport through our new broadcast agreement with TG4.”

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Basketball is the #1 indoor sport for women in Ireland.

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Basketball Ireland’s streaming platform basketballireland.tv also saw an 11% growth in unique visitors, while there was a 20% increase in video plays to 360,000. Active users on the Swish All Hoops app increased 141%, to over 21,000, with the number of games digitised during the 2023/24 season up 115% to 2,475.

 

There was also success on the court, as both Ireland’s men’s and women’s teams won the U18 Four Nations. Ireland’s men’s team finished second in their FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Pre-Qualifiers Group G, with two wins and two defeats, finishing higher than their third-seed ranking. The men’s team is now competing at FIBA World Cup level for the first time in Ireland’s history, while Ireland’s women are taking on Europe’s elite in the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket. Our women’s 3x3 team will enter the FIBA 3x3 Women’s Series for the first time in summer 2024, which is a route to Olympic qualification.

Mary O’Connor, CEO of the Federation of Irish Sport said, “The Federation is delighted to host the 7th annual Irish Sport Industry Awards which recognise and reward excellence in the business of sport and entrepreneurship. Sport has a unique potential to drive positive change in Irish society, in the areas of public health, education, social integration, tourism and economic growth. These awards provide an important opportunity to recognise the multibillion-euro value of the sport sector to the Irish economy and celebrate the work of the more than 60,000 people employed within the sector.”

Sport for Business Founder and CEO Rob Hartnett, Chair of the Judging Panel commented, "It has been a real privilege to study the record number of nominations and to debate their merits with my fellow judges, each bringing a depth of industry knowledge and expertise to the discussion. The awards are a unique celebration of the intersection between sport and business. Congratulations to all those who have been shortlisted and achieving this accolade."

Nominees for National Governing Body of the Year    

• Basketball Ireland          
• IRFU     
• Irish Squash
• Canoeing Ireland