FILA, the iconic global sports brand, has teamed up with Red Bull Half Court, merging two brands who have influenced the lifestyle and culture of sport. After signing agreements with Suzanne Schulting, multiple medalist in short-track skating, the e-sports team Ninjas in Pyjamas, and b-girl Alessandra Chillemi, FILA has officially partnered with Red Bull Half Court, the world’s foremost 3×3 basketball competition.
For the next three years, FILA will serve as the Official Global Apparel and Footwear Partner, providing a total look for all athletes, referees, and staff in every match of the tournament, from the qualifiers to the finals.
With this partnership, FILA celebrates the spirit and culture of streetball, as the distinguishing feature of 3×3 is that it’s played in a context that involves not only sports but art and music. A culture unto itself, Red Bull Half Court is an entire lifestyle and encourages the creation of innovative content that spans disciplines.
The Red Bull Half Court partnership further cements FILA as a leader in sport, fashion and lifestyle. As in the case of Alessandra Chillemi[HZ1] , who is sponsored by both Red Bull and FILA and is a true ambassador of style, the brand has an opportunity to fuse the past and future, merging the street and sportswear lifestyle spheres.
Red Bull Half Court, the most celebrated international 3×3 basketball competition on the planet, boasts more than 15,000 participants and athletes from around the world, all vying for a spot at the World Finals in Belgrade in the fall of 2023. It also represents a further step in view of the Olympics, particularly since the debut of 3×3 at Tokyo 2020 as an official Olympic discipline.
The 2022 edition saw the triumph of the Italian team for the men’s title, while Japan took the women’s crown, with the finals played in front of the Giza pyramid complex in Egypt. The 2023 edition features stages in every corner of the globe, with national qualifiers that recently kicked off in Melbourne and Kuwait City and that in the coming months will touch 25 other countries including Belgium, Japan, Kenya, Turkey, the Philippines, the United States, and Italy, whose team will try to repeat the success of 2022. Luca Bertolino, Head of Global Strategic Marketing FILA: “Red Bull Half Court is a global event that is open to anyone and encourages participants to be authentic and true to themselves. This is the aspect of the project that we like the most. It’s an event with a global scope that reaches every continent and will help us strengthen our presence in street culture, which has been a focus for FILA since the 1990s. The multi-year partnership with Red Bull is also strategic from a communication point of view. Strengthened by their expertise, we will be able to communicate our brand with increasingly original and engaging content, reaching a truly global audience. It will be a very dynamic partnership, and over the next few months we’ll unveil more news on Red Bull Half Court. We look forward to starting this journey together.”
