Our Time. Our Game. How did we bring EuroBasket 2029 to Estonia?

“Our Time. Our Game” was a communications campaign created to support Estonia’s bid to host EuroBasket 2029 and to strengthen its credibility in the eyes of the members of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). Together with the Estonian Basketball Association, our aim was to show that Estonia is a strong and reliable host country, with solid state backing, a passionate basketball fan base, and proven experience in organising major international events. At the same time, the campaign sought to make public and fan support visible, giving the bid a strong emotional and societal mandate.

Challenges

• Estonia entered the race to host EuroBasket 2029 in competition with larger countries that had significantly greater resources.
• We needed to prove that, despite being a small country, Estonia had the necessary organisational experience and professional capability to host an event of this scale.
• Since the number of public votes itself did not play a significant role in the selection process, we had to find a way to make public support strategically meaningful and turn it into a clear signal for FIBA members.

Strategy

We built the entire strategy around three pillars.

• First, our event had state support, funding, and national readiness, demonstrated through the backing of the President, the Mayor, and the Ministry of Culture.

Kersti Kaljulaid recorded personalised video messages for all 28 FIBA members. We also involved the Mayor and the Minister of Culture in the presentation process.

• Second, Estonia has a large and dedicated basketball fan base that would attend the games and fill the arenas.

We launched the EuroBasket 2029 support campaign, “Our Time. Our Game” to make the support of fans and the wider public visible.

• Third, we highlighted Estonia’s extensive event management experience by showcasing previous major basketball events as well as other large-scale events organised in the country.

In the final presentation, we highlighted the organising committee’s strength and broad experience in delivering a range of events. This helped us structure the overall narrative of the bid so that it felt credible, emotional, and well-substantiated.

At the heart of the project was the support campaign “Our Time. Our Game” through which we visualised the backing of fans and the wider public.

Although the campaign was not aimed simply at collecting votes, it helped make support visible and gave Estonia’s bid a strong emotional mandate.

Results

The campaign helped increase the visibility of Estonia’s bid and strengthened its image as a capable, well-supported, and emotionally compelling host country. As a result, we brought home the win: Estonia will host the 2029 FIBA EuroBasket.

Meta team

Ergo Kukk Consultant

Ann Hiiemaa Partner and team lead