An extraordinary journey into fandom and the heart of the basketball arenas of EuroLeague has reached its conclusion: Panathinaikos fans are awarded the BKT Heartbeat Challenge 2025/26.

The second BKT Heartbeat Challenge trophy was handed over on Friday 17 April, on the occasion of the match between Panathinaikos and Anadolu Efes, part of EuroLeague Round 38. After the victory of Partizan in the first edition of the challenge devised by BKT, leader company in the production of Off-Highway tires, this season it was the Greek fans who most ignited the atmosphere of the competition.

The award ceremony, which was staged in the interval between the first and second quarters at the Telekom Center Athens – the Athens club’s arena – involved Marco Santin, BKT Sponsorship Manager, who handed over the prize to Mr Green, the Panathinaikos mascot, in a form of metaphorical delivery of the trophy to the fans. With this award, BKT, Premium Partner of EuroLeague since 2020, wanted to celebrate the passion of the green-and-white fans, considered the true sixth man of the team. The prize is confirmation of the warmth of a fanbase, and of an arena that is recognized as one of the most deafening and sometimes threatening ones for adversaries.

The Heartbeat Challenge consists, in fact, of a challenge among the fans of the EuroLeague teams. Each day of the competition, thanks to a sound detection system, the noise peaks are recorded inside European arenas, measuring the intensity of the moments of enthusiasm that ignite the atmosphere during matches in decibels. Chants, roars and celebrations are recorded, processed and published weekly on the Instagram pages @bkt.sport and @euroleague, to keep fans up-to-date and to announce the winner of each Round.

The Panathinaikos fans were declared top of the table no less than 13 times, climbing onto the podium of the noisiest fans 18 times out of a total of 38 matches overall: a demonstration of the determination and enthusiasm of Greek spectators.

A truly unique challenge, also celebrated by a special physical trophy: a gold vinyl disc with the 13 Rounds won by the fans engraved on it. A parallelism and a homage to the world of music to certify the intensity and consistency of the support of Panathinaikos fans.

A prize and a challenge, the BKT Heartbeat Challenge, offering evidence of BKT’s commitment to sports enthusiasts, making them protagonists of the sports events that excite us and make our hearts race.

“The Heartbeat Challenge is a unique initiative on the sporting panorama. Ever since its first edition, we have seen that it has succeeded in successfully involving fans and sports enthusiasts, highlighting their passion and making them the true protagonists of a project that brings together the digital and the physical worlds. This second edition has been even more engaging, as is demonstrated by the results and its growth on the social channels, making the project increasingly recognized and appreciated by the entire fanbase” – commented Lucia Salmaso, Managing Director, BKT Europe.