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Namuwongo Blazers’ 2026 National Basketball League title defence did add another trophy to their cabinet and also opened a conversation about the future of the league’s biggest games.
Namuwongo Blazers celebrate their 2026 National Basketball League trophy.
The Blazers beat City Oilers 81-74 in an overtime Game 7 thriller at Hoima City Arena on Saturday to retain their NBL title.
For the two finalists, it was a different experience. They were playing away from the familiar surroundings of Lubowa, Lugogo, Kira and Naalya all in Kampala, just as the other teams that did not make it to the final, would have been.
And that brings up a question; should the NBL Finals be taken to Hoima more often, or even be hosted there entirely in the coming years?
Just like Blazers, Hoima had something to prove on a unfamiliar ground. Earlier, the Federation of Uganda Basketball Associations (FUBA) had confirmed that Uganda would host the FIBA AfroBasket U18 Zone V Qualifiers at Hoima Arena within the Hoima City Stadium.
The tournament was scheduled for June 14 to 20, 2026, and was meant to give teams in the region a chance to fight for a place in the FIBA U18 AfroBasket final tournament.
However, FIBA Africa later withdrew Uganda’s hosting rights because of concerns over the Ebola outbreak in the country.
FUBA said the decision followed consultations and assessments by FIBA Africa after the Ministry of Health announced two new Ebola cases in Kampala. The number of confirmed cases had risen to nine, including one death.
So, before the NBL Game 7, there were still questions about Hoima as a major basketball venue. How would the fans respond? Would people make the journey? Could the arena create the atmosphere expected of a championship game?
Game 7 offered some answers. The fans came. The arena was not full to the rafters, but there was an encouraging crowd, and importantly, they did not look out of place, they came to watch a championship decided in their city.
Some of the country’s top sports leaders were also there, including State Minister of Sports Hon. Peter Ogwang, NCS General Secretary Dr Patrick Bernard Ogwel and NCS Chairman Ambrose Tashobya.
For those who could not travel, Kawowo Sports team helped bring the action closer through their live coverage, so that the world can see .
Not a perfect turnout, but it was a good starting point.
Hoima has the facility
The biggest argument for Hoima was the facility itself, majorly constructed for football, to be specific the 2027 Pamoja AFCON but with fore sight to handle upcoming sport in the future.
The Hoima Sports Complex has a 20,000 seat main stadium and a 2,000 seat indoor mini arena with an NBA standard hardwood floor.
That gives basketball a modern venue outside Kampala. Lugogo Indoor Arena has been the traditional home of Ugandan basketball, but it is ageing, while plans for a revamped Lugogo Arena are yet to become a reality.
Hoima offers better facilities, comfortable surroundings and the potential to provide a stronger setting for television and live broadcasts. More importantly, taking the NBL Finals away from Kampala would help make the league feel more national or on a better level than the usual.
Too many’s thought, Ugandan basketball should not only belong to Kampala, Hoima gives fans in Bunyoro and Western Uganda the chance to watch the country’s best teams without having to travel to the capital, something that FUBA should look into while expanding the game.
The Game 7 crowd showed there is interest despite not being sure how many people in Hoima were notified prior to the game, and how many did manage to turn up.
But all together it may not have been a massive crowd, but it was enough to encourage organisers to keep thinking about taking big basketball events around the country.
The distance is a challenge, but not impossible
The biggest concern is obvious, most NBL teams and their supporters are based in the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area. Clubs such as Namuwongo Blazers and City Oilers have built their fanbases and commercial relationships around Kampala.
Hoima is also more than 200 kilometres from Kampala, meaning clubs, media teams and supporters would have to spend more on transport and accommodation if an entire seven game series was played there.
But the journey itself may not be as big a problem as some might think. Photographer Nicholas Bamulanzeki travelled to Hoima for the game and described the journey as smooth.
“The movement was smooth, we only met a 10 km stretch that was being worked on but rest of the journey was okay.”
The bigger problem could be weekday games. Fans might be willing to travel for a Saturday or Sunday Game 7, but getting hundreds of supporters to Hoima for a midweek Game 2 or Game 4 would be a different challenge.
Media and sponsors would also have to deal with the additional logistics of operating away from Kampala.
Maybe Hoima does not need the whole series
This could be where a compromise works best. This year (2006) saw FUBA hold Games 1-6 held in Kampala, maybe it could consider a split series, with Games 1–4 played in Kampala and Games 5–7 moved to Hoima.
That would keep the early games accessible to the teams’ traditional supporters while giving Hoima the biggest games of the series.
Another option would be to make Hoima the home of Game 7 (Which is no guarantee we might reach Game 7) whenever a championship series reaches a deciding game, Imagine a winner takes all NBL final in Hoima every year.
Fans travelling from Kampala, supporters from Bunyoro and neutral basketball followers could turn it into a proper national sporting event. Hoima could also host single-game cup finals and other major basketball events as the city gradually builds its basketball following.
To wrap up this conversation, Hoima is only venue of a better standard we can point at but incase of another we shall put it in consideration and it shall surely help grow the game out of Kampala.
But Hoima should be judged by what it showed, a major basketball game can be taken outside Kampala, Uganda now has another modern indoor venue capable of hosting high-level basketball.
It also showed that moving the entire Finals series to Hoima would need proper planning, perhaps the answer is not to take the NBL away from Kampala completely.
The 2026 Game 7 has opened the door, now FUBA has to decide whether to walk through it.
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