BT SPORT SIGNS EXCLUSIVE, MULTI-YEAR NBA DEAL
In yet another sports rights blow for Sky, BT Sport and the NBA have signed an agreement for exclusively live television coverage of top NBA games and programming in the UK and Ireland.
The multiyear agreement between BT Sport and the L tips off on Sunday December 1, as the Eastern Conference-leading Indiana Pacers take on West Coast rivals the LA Clippers at 8.30p.m UK time on BT Sport 2.
Coverage will include weekly games on Sundays in primetime.
Fans will also be able to access selected games streamed live and for free on the BT Sport website and BT Sport App (available on iOS, Google Play) along with either nba.com and NBA LEAGUE PASS International. Full schedule details of games will be confirmed in due course.
The new agreement will see up to 200 games throughout the season, appearing across BT Sport 1, BT Sport 2 and ESPN. There will be up to seven live games per week throughout the regular season and the first and second rounds of the Playoffs, as well as every game of the Conference Finals, culminating in the NBA Finals in June.
As part of the partnership, fans will be able to watch GB’s Luol Deng and the Chicago Bulls take on the Brooklyn Nets as one of five scheduled games on BT Sport on Christmas Day, making BT Sport one of the few places to go for live televised sport on Christmas Day. The Nets will face off against the Atlanta Hawks at The O2 in London on January 16, as part of NBA Global Games 2014. The game – which sold out in record time- will be live on BT Sport.
Simon Green, head of BT Sport, said: “BT Sport will be the new home of the NBA in the UK and Ireland. The NBA is simply the best basketball in the world; it is fast moving, high scoring and includes some the world’s most recognisable global sporting icons. Existing NBA fans will love our coverage, and we look forward to converting many more.”
Also included in the partnership will be several magazine shows: NBA Action combines weekly highlights and news; NBA Inside Stuff will provide fans with a unique insight into the lives of NBA stars both on and off the court; NBA Tonight, provides an overview of the NBA through interviews and analysis and NBA Countdown, the live game build up show before selected games.
Image: NBAE/Getty Images
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