BBL Announce Broadcast Deal with BBC Sport - Hoopsfix.com

BBL Announce Broadcast Deal with BBC Sport

The British Basketball League (BBL) have announced a new broadcasting deal, with BBC Sport showing 24 games live on the red button and its website in the 2016-17 season.

The deal comes off the back of the successful pilot during the recent BBL/WBBL Molten Play-Off Finals in May at The O2 Arena and fills the void of season-long live coverage that has been left since the axing of the league’s BBL TV service.

As well as 24 live BBL games – which includes all three major finals – the BBC will also show eight games in the WBBL with their three finals included as the league’s double up in the Cup, Trophy and Play-Off showpiece events.

“This is a tremendous boost for not only the BBL and WBBL, but the sport as a whole,” stated BBL & WBBL Commercial Director, Bob Hope.

“It’s fantastic that we can take the momentum and potential which was showcased at the Molten Play-Off Finals and turn it into something special with 64 hours of basketball content on BBC platforms – live and free-to-air worldwide.

“We are particularly delighted to be able to work with a partner as distinguished as BBC Sport and, importantly, this is not only about broadcasting live games, but collaborating to develop digital content more broadly.

“We hope that both existing basketball fans and many new fans waiting out there will love having such accessibility to the great, action-packed sport which is basketball.”

Director of BBC Sport, Barbara Slater added: “We are particularly excited about the opportunity that basketball affords as a sport with a digitally savvy audience.”

Last season, the BBL had a short stint of games shown live on SkySports.com and Webcast Sport, but a permanent deal did not materialise.

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