Great Britain qualify for EuroBasket Women 2025 with a resounding 75-58 victory over Demark in Copenhagen.

Great Britain arrived in Copenhagen with pressure on their shoulders, as a victory would see them qualify as one of the four best-ranked runners-up.

Hannah Jump, who currently plays for Turkish outfit Botasspor Adana, led the charge by sinking 20 points – her biggest scoring performance in EuroBasket qualifying.

Qualification for the competition displays that the foundations are in place for Great Britain to compete at the highest level.

Great Britain will undoubtedly be underdogs heading into the tournament, but could a heroic run deep into the competition benefit Super League Basketball Women in the long-term?

Growth in women’s sport

In February 2024, Women’s Sport Trust published an article that stated their research “revealed a record-breaking broadcast reach in 2023 with 46.7m people tuning in to watch 1+ minute of women’s sport on linear TV – almost 1m more than the previous high in 2019.”

These figures represent UK viewership numbers increasing as there is a growing appetite for women’s sport throughout the country.

It also represents the opportunities that broadcasters are providing to the viewing public to venture into female sports as they continue to make it more accessible.

Nevertheless, accessibility is not the sole reason behind increased viewership despite being a highly important factor – successful performances on the biggest stage by female British athletes is a major contributor.

The Lionesses valiant victory in Euro 2022 on home soil, Emma Raducanu defying all odds to win the US Open in 2021 and Laura Kenny etching her name into Olympic history by becoming the joint most successful British female athlete in the competition by winning her fifth gold medal in 2020.

BBC reported in December 2024 that since England Women won Euro 2022 “34,025 more women and girls are playing for fun, plus a further extra 10,356 playing competitively.”

What does this show us? Sports has more than entertainment value, it can inspire generations of athletes.

Can success in EuroBasket 2025 have a similar effect?

Success in any competitive sport will not only raise television ratings but it can have a trickle-down effect to grassroots levels – which in basketballs case, would be the most valued prize.

Super League Basketball, in both the women and men’s game, currently showcases a fantastic product but a considerable percentage of the players are from over-seas.

Promoting talent from the grassroots level will not only increase performance levels in international competitions but create more buzz around British basketball.

For example, Caitlin Clark has had an explosive effect on the WNBA with her rise through the college game and Luke Littler has created an unworldly clamour for Premier League Darts with his performances at just 16 years-old.

With an impressive showing in the tournament, the governing body will hope that there is a spike in female participation in basketball throughout younger age groups.

However, a courageous showing will simply not be enough. Broadcasters have a responsibility to advertise the competition and present it with as much glitz and glamour as they do with all other sports if they wish to reap positive rewards.

SportsVideo.org reported “according to Basketball England, participation has grown by over 50% in the last five years, aided by the establishment of the Women’s British Basketball League (WBBL) and increased media attention from outlets like BBC and Sky Sports.”

The correlation between viewership and accessibility – especially on domestic channels such as BBC – is hardly a shocking revelation.

Currently, the broadcast partner for EuroBasket women will be YouTube.

This can be seen as a positive as younger generations scour YouTube channels for hours on end as I am sure older generations will testify to.

However, advertising can only go so far to bring eyes to a YouTube stream, it would be more beneficial for the sport if a larger broadcaster would pick up the rights to televise to competition – such as BBC.

Broadcasters will run the argument that due to a smaller audience watching women’s basketball, it would not be commercially beneficial.

Even though this point is correct, it leaves the female sport in a vicious cycle, without the accessibility then there is little to no chance of the competition leaving a lasting legacy on younger generations – even with a heroic performance.

Having said that, statistics have shown that there is a steady growth in female participation in basketball and with the exciting product that Great Britain and Super League Basketball Women has been displaying lately – the future is bright.