Mediapro Canada, a unit of the Spanish media rights and production agency, has strengthened its agreement with the all Canadian Elite Basketball League for the Summer Series, which gets under way later this month.

Mediapro Canada will now produce live coverage of all 26 games in the series, which runs from 25 July to 9 August, and distribute live and highlights rights to broadcasters worldwide.

At the turn of the year, CEBL appointed Mediapro Canada to exclusive supply the technical facilities, production crew and transmission services for the eight games to be shown on the CBC, the country's public-service broadcaster, in the 2020 season.

The 70-game regular season was due to start on 30 May, but that was delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic and the league is returning with a condensed schedule at the Meridian Centre in St Catharines, Ontario.

Mediapro Canada said it will now produce seven games, including the semi-finals and the final, for live broadcast on the CBC, as well as the other 19 games to be streamed on the free CBC Gem platform.

In a first for the Canadian market, AutomaticTV, Mediapro's proprietary Artificial Intelligence driven fully automated sports production system, will be used to produce High Definition live multi-camera coverage of the 19 games for Gem. The technology offers a multi-camera broadcast quality production solution with a 60 frames-per-second 1080p rate, allowing rights-holders to maximise their investment and generate new revenue streams.

Mike Morreale, commissioner and chief executive of the CEBL, said: “We are thrilled to be the first in Canada to benefit from the Mediapro AI platform AutomaticTV, and to be a leader in utilising new technology to deliver our amazing product to our fans.”

Oscar López, chief executive of Mediapro Canada, added: “We are delighted to partner with the CEBL as they embark on their second season of play. Mediapro’s basketball pedigree is extensive – we produce live coverage of the FIBA World Cup, the Euroleague, Spain’s ACB Liga and the SINA 3x3 Elite League among others – and we are excited to introduce our innovative AutomaticTV system to the Canadian market.”

The CEBL launched in 2019, and in November signed a three-year media rights deal with the CBC. It is expanding to seven teams this year with the addition of the Ottawa BlackJacks. They will join the Edmonton Stingers, Fraser Valley Bandits, Guelph Nighthawks, Hamilton Honey Badgers, Niagara River Lions and Saskatchewan Rattlers.

Since launching in April 2019, Mediapro Canada's work has been focused on soccer, via a 10-year global rights deal for the Canadian Premier League and national team matches.

However, it also entered a three-year consultancy contract with the Global T20 Canada League, the domestic cricket league played in Toronto, covering media rights distribution, production, live streaming and sponsorship.