Once is not custom, France Bleu Limousin tends his microphone to television. In this case beIN Sport which this Sunday will broadcast its very first clasico of French basketball between Limoges CSP and Pau-Orthez. Journalist Rémi Reverchon answers our questions. Interview.
Rémi Reverchon, Limoges and Pau are no longer at the top of the bill. Why care about this game?
The interest is to show that at beIN, even if we have NBA DNA, above all we have basketball DNA. We know a little about this sport and when in the troupe, you have Jacques Monclar, Eric Micoud, Chris Singleton, Audrey Sauret, we know what a clasico Limoges-Pau represents and we want to highlight it. Even if it’s not ASVEL-Monaco today, it’s a match that still has a special meaning in French basketball. It would be showing ignorance of basketball not to want to broadcast such a match.
During this clasico, a new beIN consultant will start and we know him well because he started this job at France Bleu Limousin 10 years ago…
Fred Weis joins us for the coverage of the Betclic Elite and we are delighted. He will make his debut with us for this clasico. We throw a limougeaud in the big bath on a clasico. I think it will be okay.
From the moment we broadcast the CSP, the match will work
This is the 5th match of the French championship that you have been broadcasting since beIN Sport has the rights and already the 3rd with Limoges CSP. How do you explain it?
There are several reasons. The first is of course the enthusiasm for basketball in Limoges that we do not discover. Once again, we know basketball at beIN. We know that basketball in Limoges works. We know that from the moment we broadcast the CSP, the match will work. Besides that, there are time constraints. There are stories of the European Cup and in particular of the Euroleague for ASVEL and Monaco. For the moment, we have chosen this Sunday afternoon slot to broadcast the matches. Not all teams are always available on Sundays. All this means that we broadcast a lot of Limoges for the moment. That doesn’t mean we’ll show Limoges 3 times out of 5 throughout the season, but we’re not complaining about it because it’s something that works and we know it.
Exactly, beyond Limoges CSP, how has it worked in terms of audiences since you have been broadcasting French basketball?
In terms of figures, we are used to not communicating about our audiences at beIN Sport. What is important for us is above all the satisfaction of the subscribers and we realize that we have succeeded in creating a super strong basket box on Sunday evening by linking the French championship to the big NBA poster on Sunday. We have a Betclic Elite poster around 5 p.m., 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. depending on the schedule of the following NBA game. I think we created a real thing for basketball fans. The best example of all this will be Sunday February 13 with a Betclic Elite poster (ASVEL-Monaco) before an NBA poster then the Super Bowl evening which has been a big thing for us for 10 years. I think this box will be beneficial because it will lead people who are NBA fans in our country to arrive a little earlier, see a bit of the match and say to themselves that French basketball is actually not bad. . It can bring people.
It’s our bet and I’m sure it can work
We know that in France, there are more NBA basketball fans than French basketball fans. This bridge that you are creating, is it a major challenge for this sport in France?
I don’t know if we can claim to represent a major challenge for French basketball, but I want to believe that we can be a trigger for many things. The NBA poster attracts a lot of people on Sunday evenings. We know it. Mechanically, you have this NBA public which will perhaps arrive a little before. I sincerely think this is something that can work. In addition, we have multi-function consultants. Typically, a Chris Singleton who is now highly labeled NBA is American. He has his accent. He makes us laugh. But we must not forget that Chris coached for years in France. He is a guy who knows this championship very well. I think our audience that follows the NBA will quickly realize that it’s also cool to follow the French championship. In any case, it is our bet and I am convinced that it can work.