The inaugural season of Basketball African League (BAL) tipped off on Sunday at the iconic Kigali Arena with a game between Rwanda’s Patriots and Nigeria’s Rivers Hoopers. The opening game was resoundingly won by Patriots.

The tournament finally went underway after it was delayed for over one year, courtesy of restrictions brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.

BAL is an elite NBA-branded basketball league, the first of its kind to be played outside of the United States, with an aim to offer a platform for African clubs to compete at the continental level.

The games which will be screened by globally renowned sports TV networks like ESPN and Canal + Sport will also give exposure to African talents to the global community, which could help them breakthrough to major leagues across the world.

For Rwanda in particular, hosting the games offers yet another opportunity for the country to demonstrate to the world that it measures up to the standards of hosting such elite events.

It also fits in well with the government’s agenda to make Rwanda an events’ destination, as parts of the wider MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events) agenda.

That the organisers chose to have the entire season – which was meant to be hosted across seven African cities – played in Kigali, is vote of confidence in Rwanda that despite the pandemic, we can still have some of the major sports events in relative safety.

The season kicked off shortly after Rwanda played host to the meeting of the executive committee of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) which brought together top managers of the game of football not just from Africa but also the whole world, including Gianni Infantino, the FIFA president.

Back to BAL, which is still with us for the next two weeks, it is important to not stop at hosting such big tournaments. We should also maximize their potential.

For instance, on the opening day of the tournament and days prior to that, there were many questions from a cross-section of social media users in Rwanda about where they could buy jerseys and other apparel branded Patriots Basketball Club, the only team representing Rwanda.

This spoke to an opportunity missed. Sports merchandising is big. Not just for the club or the vendors of such merchandise, but also the entire country because of the major exposure that the tournament is enjoying on the global landscape.

As we host such events, we must also think of the entire value chain to maximize the benefits.