Thursday, April 10th was a very important day for the basketball world. For the first time, thanks to the BKT Heartbeat Challenge – created by BKT, the leading company in the production of Off-Highway tires – the loudest fan base in Europe was determined.
The award ceremony took place during the halftime between the first and second quarters of Partizan-Real Madrid, the 34th day of EuroLeague, at the Belgrade Arena.
Dusan Alilomov, a great fan of the club and representative of Marso Gume, the official distributor of BKT in Serbia, was called to present the award directly to Mina Bezarević, a 9-year-old fan who has become a mascot for the Partizan fan base due to her affectionate greetings with coach Želimir Obradović before each club match.
THE BKT HEARTBEAT CHALLENGE IN BRIEF
In all arenas and for every Regular Season EuroLeague match, the intensity of the fans' chants and their consistency throughout the matches were measured. The collected data was then processed by artificial intelligence, which, based on the gathered information, provided the results with the aim of identifying the team with the warmest fans in the competition, a long-debated issue never officially resolved.
Weekly, the winners for each EuroLeague round were announced on the social channels @euroleague and @bkt.sport, and at the end of the 34 days of the competition, the loudest fan base in Europe was finally determined.
This edition was won by Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade, which secured 12 rounds, two more than Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade and four more than Zalgiris Kaunas.
THE AWARD PRESENTATION
A major novelty of this second edition was the creation of a physical award, presented to the winning fan base on the last day of the championship.
The award represents a vinyl with the rounds won by Partizan fans engraved on it and was designed as a sort of gold record, drawing a parallel with the music industry, certifying the significant achievement reached this season by Partizan fans, who can now boast of being the loudest in the entire EuroLeague.
The award presentation was an emotional and special moment for everyone, which you can relive on bkt.sport: for the club, for its fans, and also for BKT, which has been supporting sports enthusiasts for years, celebrating their passion and making them increasingly central to the action.
The next big event for basketball lovers will be the Final Four, which will be held in Abu Dhabi from May 23 to 25. As always, BKT will be present with many new features, always aimed at enhancing the fan experience and providing unforgettable moments!