BeIN Media Group and the National Basketball Association have taken over. The pay TV operator has extended its long-standing contract for NBA games and the deal gives it a series of games to broadcast across the Middle East and North Africa.
Specifically, BeIN broadcasts up to nine NBA regular season games per week and will be covered in Arabic, English and French. It also has rights to the playoffs, conference finals and NBA Finals.
The matches will be broadcast on BeIN’s in-house sports channels, which are broadcast on the regular pay-TV service, and they will also be broadcast on its streaming platform, TOD.
BeIN has held the MENA rights to NBA games since 2008. The NBA has hosted pre-season games in Abu Dhabi in recent years. Basketball is extremely popular in the region and is the second most popular team sport after football.
“Our broadcast partnership with the NBA is one of the longest and most valued in our portfolio,” said Mohammad Al-Subaie, CEO of BeIN MENA. “This renewal strengthens our position as the global home of sport and reflects our continued commitment to providing viewers with world-class, multi-lingual, multi-platform coverage. »
Matt Brabants, NBA Senior Vice President and Head of International Content Partnerships, added: “With live games, highlights and original content available in Arabic, English and French, fans will continue to enjoy unprecedented access to the league’s most exciting moments. »
The international deal is the second involving NBA rights announced this week. On Tuesday, we announced Disney+’s multi-year deal to stream the NBA in the Philippines, bringing live coverage to Disney+ and ESPN in the country for the first time.
