3x3 Europe Cup in Vienna: celebrities are playing for equality
In addition to two gold medals for Team Austria, the FIBA 3x3 2024 Europe Cup powered by win2day sent a clear signal for equality. On Friday, August 23, celebrities including Virginia Ernst, Clemens Doppler and Jürgen Melzer played for a good cause as well as greater visibility for women’s sports. At the celebrity charity match, win2day, Austrian Lotteries’ gaming website, donated 5,000 euros to former national team player Selina Leiss, who is dependent on round-the-clock care following a cardiac arrest.
The FIBA 3x3 2024 Europe Cup powered by win2day, which took place from August 22 to 25 in front of Vienna’s Giant Ferris Wheel, made a strong statement promoting equality and inclusion. The 2024 European Championship will go down in history, not just because of the unique location and the fact that Team Austria won two European Championship titles. For the first time, continental competitions were 100 percent inclusive: fans were treated to four tournaments of equal calibre on the court, with the 3x3 European Championships in women’s and men’s ambulant and wheelchair-bound basketball.
Equality as a matter close to the heart
Friday, August 23, was dedicated to win2day’s Equal Play Initiative. For prime time, celebrities such as Virginia Ernst, Clemens Doppler and Jürgen Melzer played for a good cause as well as greater visibility for women’s sports. For the match between win2day and kronehit celebrities, which the latter won 5:2, win2day donated 5,000 euros to former national team player Selina Leiss, who is dependent on round-the-clock care following a cardiac arrest.
The win2day celebrity team in red jerseys:
• Jürgen Melzer (tennis legend)
• Clemens Doppler (beach volleyball legend)
• Virginia Ernst (singer-songwriter, influencer, former national ice hockey player and Equal Play Day ambassador)
• Kathi Schützenhöfer (active and successful beach volleyball player together with Lena)
• Lena Plesiutschnig (active and successful beach volleyball player together with Kathi)
• Verena Schneider (moderator, speaker, coach)
The kronehit celebrity team in white jerseys:
• Katie Weleba (kronehit moderator)
• Meli Tüchler (kronehit moderator)
• Captain Luke (Lukas Traxler kronehit morning show moderator)
• Conny Wilczynski (former national handball team player)
• Johannes Brandl (Sky moderator)
• Maximilian Ratzenböck (influencer, actor, comedian, podcaster)
The Equal Play Initiative
win2day refuses to give up on female athletes – on the contrary, the Austrian Lotteries gaming website is committed to greater visibility for women’s sports and has launched the Equal Play Initiative for this purpose.
This win2day initiative is committed to increasing the visibility of women’s sports in the media. To highlight the imbalance, the first Equal Play Day was launched in 2024. Equal Play Day marks the day of the year when, statistically speaking, women’s sports are no longer seen in domestic media: in 2024, this is March 1, because only around 19 percent of all sports reporting in Austria is dedicated to women’s sports.
Why is more visibility so important? Increased media visibility for female athletes improves opportunities for lucrative sponsorship contracts. More money in turn increases opportunities for professionalisation. Visible female athletes also become role models for girls and young women.
What is win2day doing about it? For win2day, the initiative does not begin and end on March 1. As a strong sponsor of domestic sports, win2day supports national teams, top leagues and major events in ice hockey, basketball, beach volleyball, tennis, American football and table tennis. In doing so, win2day always supports women and men – with and without disabilities – with the same level of appreciation and respect. In this context, win2day specifically promotes the professionalisation of women’s sports, the development of national teams, the provision of high-quality equipment for teams and, in particular, access to sporting events for the general public.
Equal Play Ambassador Virginia Ernst emphasises the importance of this initiative: “I simply loved the sport of ice hockey for 13 years, and I still love it. It was NEVER about just earning money. I never realised that before, not until I noticed that men my age and in the same league were earning a lot of money with it. It became clear to me that you can turn your hobby into a profession, but that didn’t apply to us women, only to men. Then I got into music and saw that it’s not much better here. All these posters where men are listed as headliners, and at the very bottom there is a woman to fulfil a quota. It's incredibly sad that women have to tread a longer and more arduous path than men to earn the same money and appreciation for the thing they love. That’s exactly why I’ve been campaigning for equality for women for seven years. And it’s why I wholeheartedly support the Equal Play Initiative to increase the visibility of women’s sports.”
About win2day
win2day is Austrian Lotteries’ online gaming service and the first and only place to be for licensed online gaming in Austria, combining casino classics, slots, lottery games such as Lotto 6 out of 45 and sports betting all on a single gaming site. It stands for security in game processing, payout of winnings and data protection. The core of all of win2day’s actions revolves around protecting players, including minors, and ensuring that the required framework conditions are in place.
win2day is the main sponsor of Austrian ice hockey, basketball, beach volleyball, tennis, table tennis and American football. Fair play as an attitude is the top priority: win2day supports women and men – with and without disabilities – with the same level of appreciation and respect.