Q-&-A With Basketball Africa League President Amadou Gallo Fall

The Basketball Africa League, or BAL, has entered its third season with 12 teams split into two conferences – the Sahara Conference and the Nile Conference – that will play a total of 38 games on the season.

Per the NBA’s March 11th press release, BAL teams will each have up to 13 players on their roster, with at least eight who are citizens of their respective team’s home country. Teams are allowed up to four players from other countries within the continent of Africa, and no more than two players from outside the continent.

The BAL’s insistence of keeping the product as local as possible is a major selling point for growing the league in coming years, with stronger ties being made to local fan bases.

BAL President Amadou Gallo Fall is looking forward to building on the league’s first two seasons, and progressing the BAL into a higher tier. He agreed to conduct a Q-&-A, providing a glimpse into the inner workings of the league, as well as presenting his thoughts of how the BAL can become a stable in Africa.

Which benchmarks or goals are you looking for during this third season of BAL in terms of exposure?

Fall: “We are looking to build on the tremendous momentum from our first two seasons and elevate every aspect of the league, from the level of play on the court to the overall fan experience to the global distribution of our games. Five teams and two countries are competing in the BAL for the first time, which reflects the fact that more teams and more countries are investing in the game in the hopes of qualifying for this league, which has raised the overall level of competition. Our Sahara Conference games in Dakar alone feature 18 former NCAA Division I players and eight players with G League experience, which speaks to how the BAL is increasingly seen as a destination for top talent. And we’re thrilled to be broadcasting and livestreaming games to fans in 214 countries and territories in a record 17 languages, while also publishing around-the-clock highlights and behind-the-scenes content across our social and digital platforms. Overall, we expect this to be the most competitive and engaging BAL season yet and want to provide fans around the world with as many ways as possible to experience the excitement of this world-class league.”

The quality of the league seems to improve every single season, with NBA Academy Africa now being a legitimate talent pool. How far are we from seeing African players become even more common in the NBA?

Fall: “It’s already happening – today there are more than 50 NBA players who were either born in Africa or have at least one parent from Africa, including some of the best players in the game in Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid and Pascal Siakam. Over the past few decades, the NBA has worked with FIBA and other local stakeholders to grow the African basketball ecosystem and build a predictable pathway for young African players to learn the game and maximize their potential, most recently through NBA Academy Africa and now the BAL, which sit on top of that developmental pyramid. Our BAL Elevate program that sees one NBA Academy Africa prospect join each of the 12 BAL teams is once again providing a platform for exciting young prospects from NBA Academy Africa to contribute to their respective BAL teams and showcase their potential on a global stage. We are only scratching the surface in terms of talent development and identification in Africa, and now that young Africans can aspire to play professional basketball without ever leaving the continent, we believe the BAL will have a transformational impact on participation and fandom by inspiring more boys and girls to play the game from a young age. African representation in the NBA and WNBA is already incredibly strong, and with everything that NBA Africa, the BAL and FIBA are doing on the continent, it’s only going to continue to grow.”

The BAL has drummed up a fair bit of attention in Africa, but the continent remains a fairly untapped market given the vast size of the area. What can the BAL do to further engrain the product into the everyday lives of Africans?

Fall: “Africa is a vast continent with one of the youngest and fastest growing populations in the world, so while we are focused on doing everything we can to bring the excitement of the BAL to more African markets and communities, we are also taking a long-term approach to our growth strategy. We’re thrilled to have five new teams and two new countries – Côte d’Ivoire and Uganda – represented for the first time, which has expanded our footprint. We are also focused on making the league as accessible as possible to African fans, which is why we are excited to once again host games in three iconic African cities (Dakar, Cairo and Kigali) while also reaching fans in all 54 African countries through a combination free-to-air, paid television and direct-to-consumer platforms, including the NBA App where all 38 games will stream live. This offseason we held a number of events in Africa, Europe and the U.S. to engage with fans, players and stakeholders from across the African Diaspora, including through BAL IN, a new series of lifestyle and networking events to connect with BAL fans from across and beyond the continent. We will continue those efforts throughout this season and in the years to come as part of our continued efforts to grow the BAL’s fanbase in Africa and around the world.”