Hungarian-invented Teqball to conquer ESPN! – PHOTOS
One of the richest men of Hungary announced an agreement with American sports channel ESPN.
The Story of Teqball
Teqball was invented in Hungary in 2012. The creators were three football enthusiasts: former professional player Gábor Borsányi, businessman György Gattyán, and computer scientist Viktor Huszár. The sport is played on a curved table, combining elements of football and table tennis.
Negotiations are over, an $850,000 deal has been signed between Teqball Group and ESPN
A decade after its formation in Hungary, Teqball Group and the Fédération Internationale de Teqball (FITEQ) announced that an $850,000 deal has been signed with ESPN, says Forbes.com. The contract with one of the world’s largest TV channels means that the channel will broadcast 12 live and 6 recorded events on ESPN2 and ESPNU this year – the first live broadcast already happened in the past few days.
György Gattyán, the entrepreneur behind Teqball, also spoke to Forbes magazine about his ongoing negotiations regarding broadcasting rights with ESPN in mid-December, saying he was also in talks with Digi and Eurosport.
By the way, György Gattyán also talked about the value of Teqball within his huge business portfolio.
He said that there was no question Teqball is the most valuable part of the group right now. However, it is really hard to tell how much it is worth exactly, as no one can tell how much basketball is worth, for example.
György Gattyán was on the list of the richest Hungarians; he was in sixth place, with an estimated fortune of HUF 253.8 billion.
- Read also: Here are the TOP 10 richest Hungarians!
Teqball at the Olympics?
Teqball is a sport sometimes played by stars like Lionel Messi, David Beckham or Neymar. Some former famous football players have even taken up the position of ambassador to help to promote the sport. At the moment, there are more than 5,000 professional teqball players worldwide, and there are 85 official international federations.
Since 2020, FITEQ has been a member of the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF), a global umbrella organisation for sports federations. The organisation’s declared goal is to be officially listed as a sport at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The article quotes Ajay Nwosu, CEO of Teqball Group (who is also president of the U.S. National Teqball Association), saying they have a chance to soon participate in the Olympics.
If you want to watch former football players playing teqball, here is a video:
Source: Forbes.hu